Austin Dillon Stripped of Playoff Eligibility; Joey Logano Fined Post-Richmond

UPDATE: Richard Childress Racing will appeal the penalties handed down on Wednesday. On social media, the team said: “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.”

All week, the hot-button topic among the NASCAR industry has been about the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, and whether race-winner Austin Dillon should have had the win taken away.

The 34-year-old racer collected his fifth victory in the NASCAR Cup Series in Sunday’s event at the three-quarter-mile racetrack, after driving his No. 3 Chevrolet so deep into the corner that he spun out then-race-leader Joey Logano, and seconds later, hooked Denny Hamlin into the frontstretch wall as the No. 11 attempted to make a pass for the win.

In the immediate aftermath, NASCAR failed to issue any kind of penalty to Dillon, allowing the Richard Childress Racing driver to leave Richmond, Virginia on Sunday with the victory, and a spot secured in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

Dillon and Richard Childress Racing will be docked 25 driver and owner points for their on-track actions. Additionally, the finish of the race will NOT count when determining playoff eligibility for the playoff, playoff points, or playoff seeding.

With the 25-point deduction, Dillon drops from 26th to 31st in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, erasing five of the six spots that he gained from winning Sunday’s event.

Brandon Benesch, spotter of the No. 3, who was heard chanting on the radio during the last-lap sequence in which Dillon wrecked Logano and then Hamlin, has been suspended for the next three NASCAR Cup Series events, and will return to action for the playoff-opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Additionally, NASCAR will fine Joey Logano $50,000 for his actions on pit road following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway.

Upon further review, the sanctioning body determined that Logano’s actions were unnecessary and dangerous after the Team Penske driver nearly ran into a group of people in the pits – which included Dillon’s wife, Whitney, and their two children – while showing his displeasure to the No. 3 crew from Richard Childress Racing.