It was a bitter-sweet victory for Austin Dillon at Richmond Raceway. He may have secured his first victory of the season, but incidents involving Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final lap resulted in severe consequences. NASCAR stripped the Richard Childress Racing driver’s playoff eligibility while docking him 25 points from the driver standings. The team went on to appeal the sanctioning body’s decision, which was subsequently rejected by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.

However, the controversy highlighted a glaring issue for NASCAR. Not only did the organization take three days to reach a verdict, but it indicated how little power they held in making their own decisions regarding incidents that occurred on track.

NASCAR needs to take back control of on-track decisions

They say, ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’. That’s exactly what appears to have happened when NASCAR reached out to all the relevant stakeholders before deciding on a verdict after the incidents at Richmond Raceway. Not only did it indicate NASCAR’s lack of confidence in making decisions on its own, but it also showed that the sanctioning body is open to being swayed away, given that inputs from car manufacturers, sponsors, and networks were taken into consideration. What did that result in? A three-day delay, only for the verdict to be appealed by Richard Childress Racing, indicating that teams also know they can take advantage of the organization’s bureaucratic approach.

Emphasizing the importance of NASCAR being the sole authority in making its decisions regarding on-track incidents, YouTuber Eric Estepp said, “I do believe the language in the rulebook must be adjusted so that next year NASCAR has the authority to make these calls at the track. We shouldn’t be waiting until Wednesday for a ruling. We shouldn’t be waiting until the following Wednesday for the appeal to be heard. We shouldn’t be waiting, who knows, another week, two weeks, for the final appeal. These kinds of calls should not be dragged out for weeks. If short track series can penalize drivers at the moment, NASCAR should be able to as well. I just think right now, they don’t have the authority. That should change going into next year.”

Estepp seems to have made a valid point. While industry-wide collaboration can be beneficial, especially when it comes to making decisions regarding marketing, broadcasting, and scheduling, NASCAR would be wise to get all the relevant stakeholders involved. After all, the decision made by the organization in such matters affects the industry on the whole, and the responsible thing to do would be to seek input from everyone involved. However, when it comes to making on-track decisions that affect the sanctity of the sport, NASCAR should have a more autonomous approach.

What that does is it eliminates any bias that may exist because of lobbying from relevant stakeholders. Naturally, teams, car manufacturers, and networks have an agenda that may influence how fairly the rules are implemented across the three national series. If NASCAR aims to remain a fair and just competition, it needs to have the authority to make on-track decisions as soon as possible, without being subjected to any form of influence whatsoever. By doing so, teams will also not be bold enough to question their verdict, as Richard Childress Racing has done, and appeal their decisions time and again.

Richard Childress Racing plans final appeal

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Following the National Motorsports Appeals Panel’s decision to uphold NASCAR’s verdict, Richard Childress Racing expressed their dissatisfaction at the outcome. Even though Dillon’s spotter Brandon Benesch’s three-race suspension has been reduced to just a one-race ban, the team believes that their appeal hadn’t been respected and will now move on to escalate the appeal to the Final Appeal Officer. The panel, comprising the likes of Tommy Wheeler, Tom DeLoach, and Kelly Housby, released the following statement after announcing that the sanctioning body’s verdict was being upheld. They said, “NASCAR represents elite motorsports and, as such, its drivers are expected to demonstrate exemplary conduct if its series’ championships are to be validated. In this case, the ‘line’ was crossed.”

In response, the NASCAR team said, “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.”

According to the rulebook, Austin Dillon appears to have violated Sections 4.4.B and 12.3.2.1.B, which focus on conduct and playoff eligibility, while his spotter Benesch was found guilty of infringing Sections 4.4.D and 10.1.A. Even though the chance of the Final Appeal Officer overturning the decision seems to be slim to none, Richard Childress Racing has decided that if they’re going down, they will do so fighting, as they don’t have much to lose. As things stand, neither Kyle Busch nor Austin Dillon have qualified for the playoffs, and with just two races remaining, the possibility of either driver securing a race win seems to be unlikely.

What are your thoughts about Richard Childress Racing deciding to appeal NASCAR’s decision? Let us know in the comments!