Dillon Stripped of Playoff Eligibility for Richmond Win, Logano Fined

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

Following Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, Austin Dillon appeared to be Playoff bound for the first time in two years.

On Wednesday afternoon, that all changed.

The factors of Dillon’s victory, which saw him intentionally spin out leader Joey Logano and then hook Denny Hamlin over the course of the final half a lap to take the victory for himself, has had the sport embroiled in controversy ever since, leading many to wonder if Dillon had stepped over the line with his actions.

After three days of deliberation, NASCAR officials ruled that a line had indeed been crossed and responded in kind with their penalties.

Dillon’s victory will still stand, but all of the benefits that come with it, namely a place in the 16-driver Playoff field, have been removed. Dillon still remains eligible for the Playoffs should he be able to secure a win at any of the three remaining races in the regular season – Michigan, Daytona, or Darlington.

In addition, Dillon and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team have been docked 25 driver and owner points, dropping him to 31^st in the standings.

“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,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Elton Sawyer said.

“So, as we look through all of that data, we came to the conclusion that a line had been crossed. Our sport has been based going for many, many years, forever, on good, hard racing. Contact has been acceptable. We felt like, in this case, that the line was crossed.”

Richard Childress Racing will appeal the penalty, noting their intentions to do so in a social media post shortly after the penalties were announced.

Dillon’s Spotter in Hot Water for Richmond Radio Transmissions

Brandon Benesch, Dillon’s spotter, was also suspended for the next three events for his radio transmissions to Dillon over that final charge to the finish on Sunday night.

In a review of the transmissions, Benesch was overheard coaching Dillon following his contact with Logano, saying:

“Run him down. Wreck him! Come on. Come on. Come on. Get up. Come on. F*** yeah!”

Dillon and others among the RCR brass did their best to turn the attention off those transmissions in their post-race press conference, but ultimately NASCAR did not agree.

”Dude, at that point I’m elbows up, holding the throttle down, just trying to get to the start/finish line literally,” Dillon said of his point of view of the radio from his spotter. “I am sideways off of four ’cause I’m already three-quarters of the lane up the track, hammer the gas. I’m just looking at the start/finish line. That’s it.

“I ain’t hearing shit at that point, you know? Your eyes turn red. You see red, you get to the end of the race.

“Daytona, last lap when I won there at the 500, your eyes see red. There’s one thing on your mind: get to the start/finish line first, period. No matter if anybody came on the radio, it doesn’t matter. Like, you have one job to do, it’s to get to the start/finish line first.”

In NASCAR’s eyes, the comments went beyond what they would expect from a spotter and reacted as such with its penalty.

“If you look at the crew chief and you look at the spotter and view them as calming voices in the driver’s ear, in this case, we just felt like we’ve all listened to the audio. We know exactly what was said,” Sawyer said of the decision making for the penalty to Benesch.

“We just felt like that that’s not what we need spotters doing. That’s not what we need (from a) crew chief sitting on the box. They’re a calming voice to what the situation is in front of them, and they’re supposed to be spotting for the race, not making comments like were made, as we all know.”

Logano Fined for Pit Road Antics

Along with the penalties for Dillon and RCR, Joey Logano was also penalized on Wednesday for his response to getting spun out by Dillon on the final lap.

In a show of frustration, Logano stormed onto pit road after the race in his damaged No. 22 Team Penske Ford, pulling to a stop near some of the RCR crew before doing a short burnout that sent a number of people on pit road scattering to get out of his way, including some of the RCR family members.

NASCAR officials were irate with Logano after he climbed from his car, giving him a verbal lashing for the incident. The sanctioning body followed up with a $50,000 penalty to Logano on Wednesday.