After further review, Austin Dillon is still the winner of Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. But he now faces other consequences for the controversial ending.
NASCAR revoked Dillon’s automatic playoff berth and docked him 25 points, it announced Wednesday. It also suspended Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, for three Cup Series races.
Dillon was running second behind Joey Logano and in front of Denny Hamlin on the final lap Sunday. Entering Turn 3, he slammed into Logano’s rear bumper, spinning out the No. 22 Ford.
As Hamlin sped past the chaos, Dillon swung his No. 3 Chevrolet left, clipping Hamlin and sending him into the wall.
It marked Dillon’s first win since the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in August of 2022.
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He began the weekend 32nd in the point standings. The victory boosted him to 26th. But after the 25-point deduction, he dropped back to 31st.
“As we looked through all of that data, we came to the conclusion that a line had been crossed,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition. “Our sport has been going for many, many years — forever — on good, hard racing. Contact has been acceptable. We felt like, in this case, that the line was crossed.”
Dillon can appeal the decision.
NASCAR handed Benesch a suspension because a review of the No. 3 team radio transmissions revealed Benesh saying “wreck him” as Hamlin inched ahead of Dillon after the Logano collision.
Logano received a $50,000 fine for smoking his tires near Dillon’s pit box after the race.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR strips Austin Dillon of playoff berth after Richmond finish
