Richard Childress is not getting over Richmond, whose chaotic story is still developing. Before the rain-delayed Michigan race, fans were gobsmacked by the Richmond race. After leading an entire season of poor finishes, Austin Dillon wrecked two top contenders for the win. Yet soon after, NASCAR stripped him of his playoff eligibility. Understandably so, given the gross wrecking intentions he displayed.

Dillon and his team appealed against the decision, but it went in vain. Even as the NASCAR Cup garage attempts to settle down after the fiasco, Childress is not willing to. He may stretch the chaos even further, as his team has a lot at stake over this dilemma.

Richard Childress is arming for Round 2

Well, the Cook Out 400 was indeed a spectacle to watch at Richmond Raceway. Austin Dillon lingered around the top ten all day, but nobody suspected him of becoming a threat in the end. After the overtime-triggering caution flag waved, Dillon spun race leader Joey Logano in turn 3. Then, as Denny Hamlin crept up, he hooked him on the right side and sent him slamming the wall. This drew immense criticism from the NASCAR community, and accordingly, a playoff penalty was issued.

When Richard Childress’ initial appeal for the penalty got denied recently, fans bashed the team owner further for trying to defend his grandson. Yet the senior NASCAR veteran is not one to let go easily for his grandson’s redemption, as Eric Estepp recently shared. The RCR team released a statement that outlined its next plan of action: “Richard Childress Racing is disappointed in the results of today’s hearing in front of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. We respect the NASCAR appeals process, but we do not believe that today’s outcome reflects the facts presented. We plan to appeal the decision to the Final Appeal Officer.”

Estepp also countered the common notion that it would not make a big difference since Dillon is barely a championship contender. He explained that the big buck is pushing Richard Childress to keep fighting. “RCR has a very slim chance…It costs a little bit of money to appeal at each level. But if they do somehow get their playoff eligibility restored, that’s a multi-million-dollar difference…Making the playoffs versus missing the playoffs is huge. It makes a huge difference, especially when looking at end-of-year payouts. Not to mention…brings added publicity to your team, to your sponsors.” 

The Final Appeal Officer may be Dillon’s last ray of hope. There is a former precedent where this method helped out a team, but it has a glaring caveat.

Childress’ last hope is slim indeed

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The first three-person appeals panel closed its doors to Richard Childress. It offered a slight respite to Austin Dillon‘s spotter, Brandon Benesch, and cut down his three-race suspension to one race. However, now Childress’ last option also seems bleak. The Final Appeal Officer is Bill Mullis, owner of Langley Speedway. Last year, both Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing were fined heftily and docked massive playoff points due to maneuvered hood louvers. But while HMS restored its points, Kaulig did not.

So NASCAR personally approached Mullis to rescind Kaulig Racing’s point penalty. Mullis explained his actions in a statement: “Because the Kaulig infraction closely mirrored that of Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR requested I rule in the same manner as the three-person appeals panel following the Hendrick Motorsports appeal on March 29…In fairness to the team and sanctioning body, as NASCAR documented in its remarks, this request is fully in the interest of fairness and consistency, and I agree.”

Clearly, that situation was unique, as NASCAR’s reputation was at stake for giving differing penalties for the same infraction. So Richard Childress needs some luck to make his last playoff solution work. How do you think things would pan out for RC? Let us know in the comments below.