The Final Appeal Officer ruled against Richard Childress Racing on Monday for the penalties it received with Austin Dillon’s Richmond win, meaning that Dillon’s victory will not count toward playoff eligibility.
NASCAR penalized Dillon for wrecking two drivers on the final lap of the race by not allowing the win to qualify Dillon for the playoffs.
Bill Mullis, Final Appeal Officer, stated: “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.)”
It is the second appeal RCR has lost. There are no other avenues for RCR to appeal the decision in NASCAR. The ruling Monday means that Dillon must win Sunday’s Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on USA Network) to make the playoffs.
Joey Logano was headed for the victory before Dillon wrecked him in Turn 3 on the final lap at Richmond. Logano spun and hit the wall after the contact from Dillon.
Denny Hamlin took the lead but Dillon hit him in the right rear, sending Hamlin into the wall and Dillon to the win. The victory put Dillon in the playoffs until NASCAR stripped that aspect of the win three days later.
Dillon later said of the situation: “In the end, you don’t hate the player, you hate the game.
“That was the situation that I was up against. I’ve learned a lot from Joey and Denny over the years. They don’t have any regrets in what they do on the racetrack. I can’t either and I don’t feel that way.”
Both Hamlin and JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty estimated the playoff ban could cost Richard Childress at least $2 million.
Daugherty, who also serves as an analyst for NBC Sports, called NASCAR’s actions against Richard Childress Racing a “very, very, very hard penalty. … This is going to hit RCR pretty substantially in their pocketbook because we’re always trying to figure out a way to create a positive balance of our checkbooks. This could be multiple millions of dollars in losses based upon this penalty.”