Austin Dillon loses final appeal, must win at Darlington to make playoffs

Unless he wins the regular-season finale Sunday night at Darlington Raceway, Austin Dillon won't compete in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

NASCAR Final Appeal Officer Bill Mullis denied the appeal Dillon and Richard Childress Racing filed contesting the NASCAR decision to strip Dillon's automatic playoff berth for his victory Aug. 11 at Richmond Raceway.

In the final turns at Richmond, Dillon ran into the rear of Joey Logano , spinning him out, and then in the aftermath, right-rear hooked Denny Hamlin on the way to the win. Dillon has indicated after getting into Logano, he was just trying to get his car to the finish line while Hamlin has said the data shows Dillon intentionally meant to make contact with him as well (although not necessarily intending a right-rear hook to be the result).

NASCAR didn't penalize Dillon in the moment but three days later announced that his actions went beyond an acceptable racing move to be credited with a playoff berth. NASCAR rules state that all wins must be unencumbered by violations of NASCAR rules or actions detrimental to NASCAR in the sole opinion of NASCAR.

A three-member appeals panel denied Dillon's initial appeal Wednesday, and Dillon took the ruling to Mullis, owner of the Langley (Va.) Speedway short track and NASCAR's appointed final appeal adjudicator for the 2024 season.

Mullis issued a statement with the ruling, quoting the rule and NASCAR's standard of proof of "more likely than not" (it is not beyond a reasonable doubt):

"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 the ruling, there are three playoff spots up for grabs Sunday night at Darlington. Any of the full-time winless drivers can earn a berth with a victory.

Five drivers have a shot at the final three spots (two spots if there is a new winner) based on points with Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain currently on the outside looking in while Martin Truex Jr ., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher cling to playoff spots.

Martin Truex Jr. is in if there is not a new winner and a relatively comfortable 37 points ahead of Buescher, 58 points ahead of Wallace and 64 points ahead of Chastain; Gibbs is 18 points ahead of Buescher, 39 points ahead of Wallace and 45 points ahead of Chastain; Buescher is 21 points ahead of Wallace and 27 ahead of Chastain.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @ bobpockrass .