NASCAR made a call in hacking away Austin Dillon’s playoff spot after his win at Richmond Raceway. The RCR driver intentionally ran through Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in a last-lap scuffle. Dillon parked his race car in the victory lane and celebrated with his team; little did he know that his victory wouldn’t land him a spot in the playoffs.

The evidence was right before the officials and could’ve easily handed a swift judgment then and there. But they chose to stretch the decision-making process, and after multiple days they finally decided to revoke his playoff eligibility and docked 25 driver and owner points. While the experts in the community have debated the ruling, the former NASCAR director has now shared his two cents on the controversial ruling.

David Hoots expected NASCAR to act quickly in handing out penalties at Richmond

Austin Dillon and RCR were going through tough times, and a win finally brought some relief to their suffering. Moreover, with a win at Richmond, they were at least going to end the season in 16th place, which would see them draw $1 million from the purse. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as NASCAR dropped the hammer on them and thus shattered their hopes for salvaging their 2024 run.

It was indeed surprising to see that despite all the technological advancement and real-time data, NASCAR couldn’t reach a decision. This is where David Hoots feels like the officials present on site should have taken more responsibility, even if they were proved to be wrong in the heat of the moment. Hoots drew a parallel from a similar incident from the CARS Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway. Buddy Isles Jr., Andrew Grady, and Ryan Millington were handed suspensions right after causing late-race carnage.

“Let’s take the CARS Tour at Hickory and apply it to Richmond. The call was made instantly, it was done. Had that kind of judgment been applied at Richmond, it would’ve been a lot simpler…The vice president of the competition myself and the series director talk, you’ve only got a very limited time at that point somebody’s gotta get involved. Somebody is paid to make that judgment, right wrong or indifferent, and you live with it.” Hoots said this via Dale Jr. Download.

Hoots has some 20 years of experience working with NASCAR behind the scenes as a chief steward and racing director until he was laid off in 2019. He believed that the lengthy delay allowed RCR to file for an appeal, which they were going to lose anyway. Rather than stretching the whole process, the incident warranted a decisive call that would lead to more clarity. On the other hand, Hoots was pleased with NASCAR’s decision to return to the iconic race track for the 2025 exhibition event.

NASCAR returns to Bowman Gray with the Busch Light Clash

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The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule struck a good balance in entering new markets and paying homage to historic tracks. North Wilkesboro Speedway retained its date for the All-Star race, but it also saw The Madhouse kickstart the season, replacing the Clash at the Coliseum. The historic quarter-mile oval has been the longest-running weekly track. And with NASCAR taking over the management of the stadium from the Hawkins family, the track will see Cup racing action for the first time since 1971.

Hoots, who had fond memories of his childhood visiting the racetrack, was glad to see Bowman Gray hosting a NASCAR event. “I’ve seen some great things happen over at the stadium. I’m excited about the Clash coming there. When we go back eight or nine years ago, when the NHL came out with the Winter Classic, we had a meeting in the office. What is something that NASCAR could do, something type of a throwback? I suggested we run one of the exhibition races at the stadium, and everybody laughed at me,” Hoots explained.

While his suggestion was rejected back then, it’s finally being implemented. The Next-Gen race cars will feature at the iconic short-track oval in Winston Salem, North Carolina, from 2025 onwards.