Austin Dillon wrecking Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at Richmond created plenty of controversy. While he registered his first win of the 2024 campaign, NASCAR took away his playoff spot and a points deduction. Unsurprisingly, Richard Childress and his team appealed the penalty but lost the appeal. Unfortunately, RCR’s last attempt to reverse the penalty failed with the Appeals Board upholding the decision.

However, it seems Richard Childress is finding it difficult to digest the loss with the appeal. After a dismal 2024 campaign for his season, Austin Dillon’s victory provided a ray of hope for the playoffs. Had it not been for his controversial win, RCR would have had plenty to look forward to in the Round of 16. While the race in Darlington could still change their fortunes, the team’s camp struggles to get over the penalty decision.

Richard Childress makes a controversial statement following Austin Dillon’s failed penalty appeal

There is no question that Austin Dillon’s actions at Richmond Raceway were “detrimental to stock car auto racing.” After all, spinning Joey Logano and bumping into Denny Hamlin’s car’s right rear wasn’t going to go unnoticed. Unsurprisingly, NASCAR deemed Dillon’s decision as crossing the line. Although it allowed the Richard Childress Racing driver to keep the win, they stripped off his playoff spot.

While RCR appealed the penalty, it failed in its first attempt. The team took the bold decision to appeal it again within their rights but as expected, the decision did not change. A NASCAR appeal officer on Monday upheld NASCAR’s decision to revoke Dillon’s playoff berth. As reported by Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass, Appeals Officer Bill Mullis explained the decision.

He said, “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.)”

While Mullis gave a perspective, NASCAR president Steve Phelps clearly indicated what was wrong with Dillon’s act. He said, “I think as we were looking at the data and what happened, it happened so quickly, but you had two incidents in a split second. Turn 3 you had an incident. Turn 4 you had an incident, and then the race was concluded.”

Phelps added, “I think the bump-and-run or slam-and-run or whatever it was, I won’t suggest that there wouldn’t have been a penalty; I have no idea, because you had a second move, and the second move was a hook, in our opinion, which was both the eye test and the data would suggest that’s what happened. And then he put a competitor also at risk. Denny took a hard hit … there was a line that was crossed in our opinion.”

Unquestionably, the decision by NASCAR and the appeals board was justified. However, Richard Childress struggles to believe so as he makes a controversial 4-word remark. As reported by well-known journalist Jordan Bianchi, Childress claimed the decision to penalize Austin Dillon “will change NASCAR forever.“

While he added how the penalty will change the type of racing that is “fundamentally part” of NASCAR, his statement sparked a lot of anger among the NASCAR fanbase.

NASCAR community slams Richard Childress for controversially questioning Austin Dillon’s penalty decision

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It is understandable how Richard Childress tried his level best to fight off the penalty imposed on Austin Dillon. After all, he went to the appeals board twice in an attempt to reverse the decision. Truth being said, there was very little that could have been done. However, claiming the decision will change NASCAR forever was a bit of a stretch.

NASCAR has witnessed plenty of wrecks and will continue to do so. That said, the wrecking act from Dillon in the final lap at Richmond Raceway went a bit far. While both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin possessed a bright chance to claim the victory, the RCR driver denied them both on purpose. Naturally, when Richard Childress passed the controversial remark about the type of racing being changed with the penalty decision, the fans lost their cools.

As fans vented out their anger on Twitter/X, one fan thrashed Richard Childress. He said, “He’s delusional. There’s a huge difference between bump and run with 2 cars close and what Dillion did. Dillion admitted that he drove into the corner at a speed he couldn’t have handled just to make contact.” Another fan questioned what Childress was trying to prove here. In a frustrated comment, he said, “Bro cannot be serious.”

At the same time, one fan questioned if NASCAR’s fundamentals involved bulldozing other cars. He said, “Didn’t realize bulldozing other cars was “fundamental NASCAR” but go off pop pop.” On the other hand, one fan slammed both Richard Childress and Dillon into this entire controversy. He said, “Richard needs to know when he’s defeated and his grandson is a spoiled wrecker”.

Another fan highlighted Richard Childress’ hypocrisy as he warned Ricky Stenhouse not to wreck any of his cars. He said, “Isn’t this the same guy that told Stenhouse not to wreck any of his cars.” Additionally, one fan pointed out where Childress should focus rather than passing such statements. He said, “RC probably needs to worry more about getting his team competitive.”

Richard Childress passing such comments isn’t going to help his team. While he plans to bounce back from this defeat, hopefully, one of his cars registers a victory at Darlington on the weekend. Not only will it help register a playoff spot but also help them move past this controversy peacefully.