With a single victory, Austin Dillon has taken the NASCAR world by storm. While some fans and the Richard Childress Racing fold may be celebrating, others shake their heads in disbelief. Dillon’s controversial bump-and-run has been churning out different opinions in the last 3 days. However, the final judgment on the matter is yet to be released, and that would ultimately determine the No. 3 RCR team’s future.

NASCAR would be behind that call, which Dale Earnhardt Jr. reckons would be a severe blow for Richard Childress and Co. Their Cup Series teams have terribly lagged behind this season, and a hefty penalty would be disastrous for their post-season run.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. delves into a dark outcome for RCR

What Austin Dillon executed at the Cook Out 400 race has precedents from the past. But they do not have good endings, like a 2010 Xfinity race. Then a driver shoved the race leader out of the way to snatch the win. Not only did NASCAR invalidate the victory, but they also slapped a $25,000 fine and a fifty-point reduction. Richard Childress‘ crew seems headed in the same direction, and it might be a dire scenario as Dale Earnhardt Jr. dissected.

The Richmond race has already cooked up an opinion on the veteran driver’s mind. Dale Earnhardt Jr. thoroughly disapproved of Dillon’s aggression, asking for an overhaul of the waiver rule if need be.

Now he gets into Richard Childress’ shoes and examines a bleak situation. Junior said, “If you come out on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, and you take a win away…Don’t even worry about the monetary fines, and say, ‘Alright man, you’re out of the playoffs with the win gone, back to 32nd. We know what that did to Michael Waltrip Racing, right? It sent them down a bad path that they could not recover from. I think even if you did it on race night, it’s all the same.”

The historic “Spingate” incident at a 2013 Richmond race sealed the fortunes of Michael Waltrip Racing. Clint Bowyer intentionally spun with 10 laps to go to bring out a caution. This benefited his MWR teammate, Brian Vickers, on the restart that allowed Martin Truex Jr. to qualify for the playoffs.

However, NASCAR was not so kind—it slapped a record $300,000 for the spin and the resulting attempt to manipulate the end of the race. So Dale Earnhardt Jr. rightly thinks that the Cook Out 400 fiasco might be detrimental for Richard Childress and Co.

RCR has already incurred the wrath of NASCAR this year. And with veterans like Dale Jr. and others clamoring for an example to be made of this, Dillon’s fortune hangs in the balance.

Another hit for RCR?

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Richard Childress and his team have not been in NASCAR’s good books this year. At Martinsville Speedway, the No. 3 team violated the assembled vehicle rules in the car’s underwing assembly and hardware. While the crew chief was penalized $75,000, Austin Dillon suffered as well. A 60-point docking and a five-point playoff drop reduced his position from 21st to 28th in the season standings. As RCR comes under NASCAR’s radar again, Dillon might seal his 2024 fortune for good.

And despite Dale Earnhardt Jr. empathizing with his dire straits, the veteran does not favor being lenient. Dale Jr. specially targeted the spotter, who egged Dillon to wreck. “NASCAR will react in some way, shape, or form because of the spotter audio. And they should. They should. Crew chiefs, spotters, should always get in trouble when they’re telling a driver to do something nefarious on the racetrack such as wrecking another opponent.” 

Furthermore, Dale Jr. does not agree that Dillon’s moves mimicked The Intimidator’s. Many claimed as they saw the No. 3 car getting fast in Richmond. He said, “I don’t know if I saw dad ever clean two of ’em out in the last corner.”

Clearly, Richard Childress and his team would receive another NASCAR blow, given the almost unanimous stance that Austin Dillon’s actions crossed the line.