At Richmond, Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing were celebrating their first win of the season. The victory was all the more important as it confirmed Dillon’s entry into the playoffs. However, the controversial circumstances surrounding the race were always going to come under the scanner, especially after Denny Hamlin’s outburst. After a delayed decision, NASCAR allowed Dillon to keep the win but stripped him of his playoff berth. In response, RCR issued a statement saying they would appeal the ruling.

The ruling was indeed a big blow to the No. 3 team, which has struggled to register good finishes in the previous 22 attempts. Not only that, the team also missed out on bagging an additional $2 million that come with making the playoffs. Thus, RCR’s decision to challenge the verdict isn’t surprising but there’s a different course of action that is better suited for Austin Dillon and his team, according to NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin.

Austin Dillon should prove “everyone wrong,” says Mark Martin

NASCAR took three long days to compile all the evidence and resources and then delivered their verdict on Wednesday about the repercussions the #3 team will face. In addition to taking away the playoff spot, NASCAR also docked Dillon 25 points. Given that it leaves, Dillon’s playoff hopes hanging by a thread, an appeal by RCR will be a desperate attempt to overturn the ruling.

However, Dillon is still eligible to make the playoffs with three regular-season races to go. And this is exactly what Mark Martin wants the RCR driver and his team to focus on rather than locking horns against NASCAR officials. Speaking on Dale Jr Download, Martin was put under the spotlight and asked whether he would appeal such a decision.

Claiming that he wouldn’t appeal against the ruling, Martin stated, “Well, I don’t, but that’s just me. I don’t know what they will do…There might be a good reason why they appealed and think they might get that overturned. I am going to dig deep and try to prove everyone wrong by winning one of these next three races.”

So my deal would be focus man. Let’s do it in one of these next three races and we’ll be in legit. But I can’t say what they’ll do.” Martin said on the podcast.

It was a rather tricky call for the officials, given that this is the first instance where NASCAR has chosen to intervene and revoke a driver’s playoff qualification directly. Even if RCR does appeal, the chances are NASCAR will hold its ground, especially after elaborating on the penalty in detail. So it would make sense for RCR and Dillon to pay heed to Martin’s words even if it means making the difficult decision to let go of the events of Cook Out 400.

The veteran driver also pointed out that Dillon won the race at Richmond the hard way after being in the top 5 for most part of the race, only to have a last-lap caution deny him. The RCR driver was ahead in the final lap and had the win in sight. However, after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun Ryan Preece a yellow flag came out, forcing a restart.

The restart saw Joey Logano go ahead and close in on a win before Dillon spun him between Turn 3 and 4. As Denny Hamlin sought to take advantage, Dillon drove him into the wall as well and raced to the finish. Later, Hamlin lashed out at the officials for not taking any action over what happened even claiming they were the ones “sending this sport backwards.”

But as it turns out, NASCAR not only punished Dillon but dented his playoff chances in a big way. This led to RCR releasing a statement on X Thursday, noting, “Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team. Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team.”

NASCAR also came down hard on Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, who was heard saying “Wreck him,” to Dillon, over the radio during the chaos that followed after the restart. Benesch has been suspended for three races, meaning he will miss the rest of the regular season.

So, what do Austin Dillon’s playoff chances look like?

RCR and Austin Dillon are still in contention

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If he takes Mark Martin’s advice and concentrates on pulling off a win in the next three races, the #3 driver can still make the playoffs. Right now, he sits at 31 in the standings, but that could change with one win.

There’s always this element of surprise and big upset on the superspeedway racetracks. Especially the Daytona International Speedway in recent times has churned out surprise winners. Fortunately, for Dillon, he has been one of the fortunate ones to have aced the drafting track. In 2018, he was able to hold off a late challenge by the likes of Denny Hamlin and Aric Almirola to back his maiden Dayton 500 win.

And in the Next Gen era, he again managed to pull off similar results, this time around in the fall race just before the start of the playoffs in 2022. Also, do not count Kyle Busch out of the equation just yet.

Imagine if his No. 8 team would have a similar set-up to Dillon in the upcoming three races. Again, one of the three wins Rowdy scored in 2023 came at the Superspeedway track. Maybe they will have to pair up like Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher did last year and get one of the teams through to the knockout rounds.

But before that Dillon and RCR will have a chance to redeem themselves at the Michigan International Speedway over the coming weekend. Although they are expected to appeal the penalty decision, RCR’s sole focus should now be on getting ready for this weekend’s race.