The Richmond race evoked many reactions. A celebratory one from the Richard Childress Racing team, as they got their first win of the season. Followed by a furious one from Joey Logano, who did not appreciate the way Austin Dillon snatched the win away from him. We also had Denny Hamlin coming down hard on the officials after being at the receiving end of Dillon’s reckless move. Well, this led to NASCAR penalizing Dillon but it may not be the end of the story.

Despite a delayed decision, NASCAR has made its stand clear. They have penalized both the race winner as well as Joey Logano for their conduct on the racetrack, but RCR isn’t pleased with the decision and plans to appeal it.

Richard Childress Racing gets the win but no playoff chance

All this drama began when in the last few laps the #3 of RCR was leading the race. However, there was a restart after a caution occurred. After the restart, Joey Logano moved past Dillon to take the lead fair and square. At this moment, Dillon saw probably his only chance of the playoffs fleeting away.

As Logano entered Turn 3, Dillon hit him from behind, sending him spinning into the wall. However, it wasn’t over yet. Denny Hamlin thought of capitalizing on the situation and tried to take the lead. But a determined Dillon threw him too on the outside wall. Dillon took P1, Hamlin in P2, and Logano finished in the 19th position.

The incident had many call out NASCAR for penalizing Dillon and the RCR team over the last three days. After careful analysis of the situation by NASCAR, as Elton Sawyer had stated on Monday in the pitlane, a decision was finally given on Wednesday. Though Dillon’s win was allowed to stand, it will not count towards the playoffs. He was also docked 25 points in the standings. Obviously, this hasn’t gone down well with RCR.

They took to X with a strong reaction. In their official statement on X, they wrote, “Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team. We do not agree with the decision that was made and plan to appeal”

Rough driving has always been a part of NASCAR’s culture, owing to which they did not strip Dillon of his win. But by docking points and rendering his win fruitless, NASCAR has dented Austin Dillon’s playoff hopes. Dillon has dropped to 31st in the drivers’ rankings as a result of the penalty. Though he can still clinch a playoff berth if he wins one of the remaining three races.

Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, who was heard on the radio saying, “Wreck him,” when Denny Hamlin tried to take advantage of the Logano incident, has also been suspended for three races. Logano has also not escaped punishment for his actions.

After being hard done by Dillon, a furious Logano spun the tires of his car in anger near the RCR driver’s family and pit crew members on pit road after the race. This was a violation of the member code of conduct for compromising the safety of others and as such he has been fined $50,000.

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel will review Dillon’s case at an unspecified time. RCR isn’t going to go down without a fight and we maybe unpacking more from the fallout of the Cook Out 400 in the coming days.

NASCAR’s decision came after Denny Hamlin criticized the officials saying, “We’re never ever gonna get taken seriously as a sport, because we have no real officiating.” Hamlin added that allowing drivers to get away with these sorts of actions takes the “sport backwards.”

While it may seem a case of better late than never, what seemed like an obvious foul took NASCAR a lot of time to come to a decision.

Elton Sawyer apologized for the delay

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NASCAR’s VP of Competition on the penalty issued said, “The No. 1 thing is that we want to make sure that we are protecting the integrity of our playoffs as well as our championship when we get to [the final race at] Phoenix,”

Austin Dillon broke NASCAR rule 12.3.2.1 B, which states: “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.” This amounts to the penalty that he received. However, many are still questioning the time delay in issuing the penalty.

To this, Sawyer acknowledged that they would look at ways to make these decisions quicker than three days after the race. However, explaining the delay, Sawyer further added, “We want to make sure the most important thing in these decisions is to get it right, and to make a split-second decision and it is wrong, that would be bad on our part.” According to him, NASCAR had previously also considered taking away Dillon’s win. However, as of now, there is no such rule that allows them to do that.

A win without a playoff spot is not a win. Dillon almost broke the dry spell of the RCR team, who have been struggling this season. Despite having two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, they have failed to nail a playoff spot so far. The next three races are crucial for both of them. If they don’t get a win, they are out.

It is a possibility that Busch might not be in the playoffs, making it a career first for him. This late in the series, what do you think are the RCR team’s chances? Let us know in the comments below.