NASCAR appeal officer upholds decision to revoke Austin Dillon’s playoff berth after win at Richmond

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Austin Dillon’s overly aggressive victory at Richmond Raceway won’t land him a spot in the Cup Series playoffs.

A NASCAR appeal officer on Monday upheld the sanctioning body’s decision to revoke Dillon’s automatic postseason berth that came with his controversial win at Richmond on Aug. 11. Dillon intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano coming out of the final turn to take the checkered flag for his first victory in two years.

Three days later, NASCAR announced that Dillon’s victory “crossed a line.” Officials allowed Dillon to keep the trophy and the prize money but stripped his spot in the 16-driver playoffs, saying his actions were “detrimental to stock car auto racing.”

Dillon and Richard Childress Racing were docked 25 points in both the drivers’ and owners’ standings. Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races for yelling “wreck him!” over the radio as the driver battled with Hamlin down the stretch.

RCR appealed, and National Motorsports Final Appeal Officer Bill Mullis said in his ruling Monday that race data indicated “that more likely than not a rule violation did occur.”

The decision could cost RCR millions since NASCAR’s charter system pays based on final points standings.

Dillon, though, has one final chance to drive his way into the playoffs; he will need to win at Darlington Raceway on Sunday to make the field.

In NASCAR’s view, Dillon’s moves at Richmond went beyond the hard-racing ethos that’s been part of the Cup Series’ DNA since its 1948 inception. Dillon said he was trying to move Logano’s car, but hitting and turning Hamlin 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.”

It was his first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year. Dillon emerged from the chaos in his No. 3 Chevrolet and was roundly booed. That car number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt.

“That’s not the way we want our races to end,” said Elton Sawyer, the senior vice president of competition. “That’s not the way we want to decide a champion. That’s not the way we want to decide an event.”