NASCAR on Wednesday ruled that Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond Raceway would not count toward eligibility for the Cup Series playoffs.
Dillon would keep credit for his first victory of the season, but his playoff eligibility was revoked because of “actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.”
Desperate to win for the first time in nearly two years, Dillon sent Daytona 500 champions Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano into the wall in rapid succession on the final lap to clear a path toward victory.
Photo: AFP
“The No. 1 thing is we want to make sure we’re protecting the integrity of the playoffs and the championship when we get to Phoenix,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said.
Dillon and the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) No. 3 team also were docked 25 points in the drivers’ and owners’ standings. Dillon dropped from 26th to 31st in the drivers’ standings.
Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races.
Sawyer said that NASCAR considered suspending Dillon for his actions.
“That crossed a line,” he said. “That’s not the way we want to decide a champion. That’s not the way we want to decide an event.”
Logano was fined US$50,000 for smoking his tires on the pit road as he drove by Dillon and his team.
There was no immediate word if RCR would appeal the decision.
Dillon won for the first time in nearly two years in the Cup Series on Sunday night, but the race seemed out of reach before he spun Logano out of the way and then sent Hamlin into the wall as well — all in the final few seconds.
“It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable,” Logano said on Sunday. “I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it, but from four car-lengths back, he was never going to make the corner. And then he wrecks the other car. He wrecks the 11 to go with it. What a piece of crap.”
Dillon said he was trying to move Logano’s car, but hitting Hamlin as well was more of an instant reaction.
“I’ve seen Denny and Joey make moves that have been running people up the track to win,” Dillon said. “This was the first opportunity in two years for me to be able to get a win... I’ve seen a lot of stuff over the years in NASCAR where people move people, and it’s just part of our sport.”
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