CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two drivers were penalized after Sunday's controversial NASCAR finish at Richmond Raceway.
NASCAR announced on Wednesday that the race win for Austin Dillon will not count toward the NASCAR playoffs. He was also penalized 25 points, dropping him from 26th to 31st in the points standings.
Dillon won the Cook Out 400 at Richmond after wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the last lap. The race win will still stand for Dillon even with the playoff penalty.
“I think in all due respect to the appeal process, we looked at this and the totality of everything that happened as you enter Turn 3 and as the cars got to the start/finish line,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said. “So, as we look through all of that data, we came to the conclusion that a line had been crossed.”
Richard Childress Racing, the team Dillon drives for, stated it plans to appeal the decision.
"We do not agree with the decision that was made and plan to appeal," the team stated on social media.
Logano was fined $50,000 for an incident on pit road after the race when he spun the tires of his car in anger near Dillon's family and pit crew members.
Brandon Benesh, Dillon's spotter, was suspended for three races. Benesh advised Dillon to wreck the two competitors on the radio during the last lap.
“It is what it is," Dillon said after the race on Sunday. "Wins get you into the next round. I did what I had to do to cross the start/finish line first.”
Logano and Hamlin were extremely critical of Dillon after the race.
"It's chicken s***," Logano said after the race. "It's ridiculous that that's the way we race. I get bump and runs... but he was never going to make the corner and then he wrecks the 11."
The penalty places Chris Buescher into the 16th and final playoff spot with three races to go in the regular season. Buescher is tied with Ross Chastain on points but wins the tiebreaker by having more second-place finishes (2-0). Buescher would be out of a playoff spot if Dillon's win counted.
Chase Briscoe is the next closest driver to Buescher and Chastain, 99 points behind. Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace are 18 points and 3 points ahead of Buescher, respectively.
