July 21, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Dillon (3) waves to the crowd in front of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports Austin Dillon was docked 25 points in the drivers’ standings on Wednesday in response to taking two cars on the final lap of last weekend’s race.
The disciplinary action stripped Dillon of a playoff spot in the Cup Series.
However, Dillon held on for victory at Richmond.
Dillon dropped from 26th to 31st in the driver standings after NASCAR crashed Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap of the Cook Out 400 and scored 25 points.
“So, when we looked at all this data, we concluded that a line had been crossed. Our sport has been built on good, hard racing for many years. Contact is acceptable. We at NASCAR Elton Sawyer, senior vice president of competition, said Wednesday that in this case it felt like a line had been crossed.
NASCAR also fined Logano $50,000 for his postrace antics, suspended Dillon’s spotter for three races and docked Dillon’s team 25 points in the owners’ standings.
Dillon first cut off Logano’s No. 22 jersey after the final restart and sent him spinning. Dillon then caught up with Hamlin and drove him into the wall to take the checkered flag.
Dillon spotter Brandon Benesh was suspended for telling Dillon to “ruin him” when talking about Hamlin.
“We know exactly what they said. We just didn’t feel like it was something we needed observers to do,” Sawyer said. “That’s not what we need (from) a purser sitting on a box.”
Angered by the spin, Logano was fined for skidding a tire near Richard Childress Racing’s box at Dillon Racing, breaching the members’ code of conduct by endangering the safety of others.
But the harshest punishment was reserved for Dillon, who said after Sunday’s game:
“Winning gets you into the next round. I did what I had to do and crossed the start/finish line first.”
–Scene-level media
