Three days!

That’s how long it took for NASCAR to finally reach a verdict after Austin Dillon’s controversial finish at Richmond Raceway. The Richard Childress Racing driver sent Joey Logano to the wall in the final lap and forced Denny Hamlin to spin out in Turn 4, before securing his first race win of the season. While Dillon will remain the official winner of the Cook Out 400, he won’t be eligible to make it to the playoffs because of the incidents that occurred in the last lap.

Despite facing a 25-point docking that has pushed Dillon from 26th to 31st in the standings and Dillon’s spotter Brandon Benesch being suspended for three races, NASCAR insider Kenny Wallace has expressed his dissatisfaction with how long it has taken for the sanctioning body to announce their verdict.

Compares NASCAR to another popular American sport

When Austin Dillon dumped two cars on his way to victory at Richmond Raceway, the consensus was that NASCAR would take immediate action to rectify the on-track events. After all, the sanctioning body must have a minimum driving standard that drivers must follow to be eligible for Victory Lane, especially with a spot in the playoffs being the prize. However, when the victory was awarded to Austin Dillon, it was clear that NASCAR had missed the opportunity to hold the 34-year-old accountable. With the winner already declared, any action that would be taken would occur retrospectively, and that’s exactly what happened.

Slamming NASCAR for delaying the verdict, Kenny Wallace said on his YouTube channel, “We got to quit this three-days later stuff. You don’t see nobody do that in any sport. Here’s what NASCAR is doing, ‘let’s take our time, make this right’. No, you can’t take your time and make it right. It’s very simple, the decision needed to be made then. Baseball’s got it right. There has been championships lost, perfect seasons thrown away, perfect games thrown away because the ump got it wrong. What do they do? Remember the big deal at first base? Safe! But he wasn’t safe, he was out by a mile. What became of that? They created the ‘let’s call New York’ and in 2 minutes, done. That’s what needs to be done after these races.”

Urging NASCAR to take a leaf out of baseball’s book, Kenny Wallace went on to say, “I would do exactly like Major League Baseball does it.”

While a few would agree, Kenny Wallace may have a point here. By implementing a system like Major League Baseball, where decisions are made immediately, NASCAR will be able to avoid unnecessary speculation that spans for days on end, while giving fans and relevant stakeholders clarity about a race’s outcome.

Not only will it avoid a situation where a race winner doesn’t make it to the playoffs, but it will also give more meaning for drivers to celebrate in Victory Lane, as there will be no doubt that their place in the postseason is assured.

Wallace’s frustrations also stem from the fact that NASCAR was aware that Austin Dillon’s spotter was heard saying “wreck him.. wreck him,” during the final lap at Richmond Raceway. While a spotter asking their driver to wreck a fellow competitor is never a good look, it was ultimately Dillon who chose to follow through with the instructions, jeopardizing Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin’s races.

With ample evidence at its disposal, the sanctioning body could have announced its verdict right after the race, instead of waiting for days to rectify the outcome.

Wallace rues NASCAR’s missed opportunity to hold Austin Dillon accountable

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After the controversial events at Richmond Raceway, Kenny Wallace had rightly predicted that NASCAR’s delayed verdict would force the sanctioning body to give Austin Dillon an undeserved race win. The Richard Childress Racing driver was awarded the trophy, despite the organization knowing fully well the circumstances that led to the 34-year-old crossing the checkered flag in first position. Wallace believes that by letting the incident slide, NASCAR had missed their opportunity to make the right call, when it mattered the most.

Speaking on his channel after the Cook Out 400, the 60-year-old racing veteran said, “Why did they miss this opportunity? See, if they really wanted to do something, they’d have done it right then. You can’t let him go to Victory Lane and then take the win away. So the win’s going to stand.”

Wallace went on to emphasize just how big of a missed opportunity it was for NASCAR to not take timely action, by saying, “But I want to be clear when I say this: capital M-I-S-S-E-D, missed. Missed opportunity by NASCAR.” Despite Austin Dillon recording his first race win in almost two years, the insider disagreed with the outcome at Richmond, saying, “That was bullshit. He’s not the winner.”

With three races remaining in the Cup Series before playoffs begin at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Austin Dillon still has the opportunity to make it to the playoffs. The Richard Childress Racing driver could have won at Richmond Raceway fairly, had it not been for the caution after the incident between Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Ryan Preece. If Dillon can replicate his form at Michigan, Daytona, or Darlington, the 34-year-old will have a good chance of securing his second race win of the season.

What are your thoughts about NASCAR’s delayed verdict? Let us know in the comments!