Austin Dillon was happy as he ended a 68-race winless streak at Richmond Raceway and got a playoff spot for himself. But with that came criticism. Not only did he send Joey Logano into the wall in the final lap, but also spun Denny Hamlin on his way to the checkered flag. His controversial win resulted in a three-day review of the situation and NASCAR has now reached a verdict. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has some thoughts on this!

The sanctioning body has ruled that while Dillon will remain the official winner of the Cook Out 400, his race win won’t count toward eligibility for the Cup Series playoffs. Additionally, Dillon and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team will also be docked 25 points in the drivers’ and owners’ standings, while team spotter Brandon Benesch has been suspended for three races.

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download podcast right after NASCAR’s Austin Dillon verdict, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said, “It’s a tough deal for RCR. I don’t think you can take a lot of happiness in the fact that you get to keep the win. This will be a difficult thing for the team because, as Denny Hamlin noted in his podcast, it’s almost a $2 million swing from where Austin is in the points currently to where he might have eventually finished, had he had the chance to race it out in the playoffs. A lot of money on the line here or a lot of money that the RCR team would have benefited from had they made the playoffs…”

NASCAR’s verdict hasn’t gone down too well with Richard Childress Racing, who will be appealing the decision. In addition to having his playoff spot taken away, the 25-point docking has relegated Dillon from 26th to 31st place in the driver standings.

Not just this. The spotter Brandon Benesch, who was heard saying “Go wreck him” during the final lap, will be replaced as well. While all is not lost yet, as the 34-year-old could still qualify for playoffs if he wins one of the three Cup Series races remaining in the regular season, the situation does look bleak for the No. 3 Chevrolet driver. But how did NASCAR decide to take away Dillon’s playoff spot? Well, because of the following rule.

Section 12.3.2.1.b: “Race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.”

But how did things reach this situation?

Dillon’s win was quite controversial. With a comfortable 3-second lead and just two laps to go, Austin Dillon was in unfamiliar territory at Richmond Raceway. However, circumstances changed when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. collided with Ryan Preece, bringing about a caution. As a result, Dillon didn’t have the best restart, which allowed Joey Logano to take the lead heading into Turns 3 and 4.

However, the Richard Childress Racing driver refused to give up without a fight, and in an attempt to regain track position, he rear-ended Logano’s No. 22 Ford, sending him into the wall. During the altercation, Denny Hamlin almost stole the lead, but it wasn’t long before Dillon sent him spinning while making his way to the checkered flag. Even Elton Sawyer spoke about what took place.

VP, Elton Sawyer’s comment on NASCAR’s Austin Dillon verdict

After letting NASCAR drivers tiptoe on the ‘line’ for years in their battle for victories, the sanctioning body finally took a stand. The decision to allow Dillon’s victory to stand while making him lose out on a playoff spot appears to be the right one, as it sets a minimum driving standard when it comes to what is permissible on a racetrack.

Additionally, NASCAR’s decision will also go a long way in pacifying Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin‘s frustrations, with both drivers being at the receiving end of Austin Dillon’s actions in the final lap.

Speaking after the verdict, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, Elton Sawyer said, “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. 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.”

However, it seems Richard Childress and his grandson aren’t too pleased with the recent decisions, as they took to social media to announce their plans to appeal the penalties handed down to Dillon and the No. 3 team. Meanwhile, Team Penske’s representatives shared that Joey Logano has accepted his penalty. Now, with RCR appealing the penalties, Elton Sawyer didn’t go into the specifics of what the ‘line’ was in this instance. But his statement implied that every driver knew the acceptable limit for hard racing in the Cup Series, and given NASCAR’s verdict, it’s clear that Dillon crossed it.

All this raises further questions:

• Why didn’t officials penalize Dillon after the race?
• Was the decision so complicated that the sanctioning body had to wait for three days to conclude?