Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing have lost their second and final appeal process in overturning Dillon’s penalty of having his NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway stripped from Playoff eligibility during a ruling made by Bill Mullis, NASCAR’s Final Appeal Officer, on Monday, August 26.
The news comes 12 days after Dillon’s 2024 Cup Series Playoff eligibility was revoked by NASCAR due to actions the Welcome, North Carolina native made four days earlier on August 11 at Richmond. During the event, he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap and final turn during an overtime shootout to win the race and leapfrog a majority of the competition in the regular-season standings to clinch a Playoff berth. The actions Dillon made were a last resort to secure a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, with the driver, owner Richard Childress and crew chief Justin Alexander defending Dillon’s actions.
Following the first announcement of his Playoff eligibility being revoked and Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team being docked 25 driver/owner points, Richard Childress Racing released a statement that cited the team’s intentions to appeal the penalties.
The saga then continued this past Wednesday, August 21, when the National Motorsports Appeals Panel denied the team’s first appeal attempt and upheld the points deduction and revoked Playoff berth, but reduced Brandon Benesch’s, Dillon’s spotter who encouraged Dillon to wreck Hamlin approaching the finish line, suspension from three races to one. Richard Childress Racing, however, cited intentions to appeal the penalties to the Final Appeal Officer.
Following the decision to deny Dillon and Richard Childress Racing’s final attempt to overturn the penalties, Mullis released a statement that explained his final ruling and supported the initial ruling made by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel:
“The data presented today from SMT and IDAS systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway on 8-11-24 by the No. 3 RCR car on the last lap of the race. [Rule 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility, race finishes must be unencumbered by violations of the NASCAR rules or other actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.]”
With all appeal processes used and denied, Dillon, who is currently ranked in 29th place in the 2024 regular-season standings and has finished no higher than 17th in the two races following the Richmond victory, faces a “must-win” scenario ahead of this upcoming weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to race his way back into the 2024 Cup Series Playoff picture. Currently, he is 298 points below the top-16 cutline in the Playoffs standings.
Dillon is one of several competitors who are currently below the top-16 cutline ahead of the regular-season finale at Darlington, a list that includes teammate Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Zane Smith.
With 13 of 16 Playoff spots filled by regular-season winners, including this past weekend’s winner Harrison Burton, the remaining three vacant spots are currently occupied by Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher on points, with the latter retaining the final transfer spot by 21 points over Bubba Wallace, 27 over Ross Chastain and 106 over Kyle Busch.
Austin Dillon’s final attempt to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on the track continues this upcoming Sunday, September 1, at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 and for the 2024 regular-season finale. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.
