NASCAR officials drop Austin Dillon from Cup Series Playoffs; Logano fined

Austin Dillon’s victory at Richmond Raceway will not count toward qualifying for the Cup Series

Playoffs, according to a ruling made by NASCAR authorities on Wednesday. The decision was made

three days after the driver for Richard Childress Racing crashed Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the

last lap of Sunday’s Cook Out 400, bashing his way to victory.

Following Sunday’s race, which was won by a wild final lap of overtime, Dillon received the harshest

penalty of a few that were handed out. Dillon’s victory will stay, but his automatic spot in the 16-driver

playoffs field will be revoked, according to NASCAR officials after a thorough analysis of all available

video and data. This is because Dillon broke Section 12.3.2.1.b of the NASCAR Rule Book, which

addresses playoff eligibility and specifies that “Race finishes must be unhindered by any infractions of

the NASCAR Rules or other actions that, in NASCAR’s exclusive discretion, are harmful to stock car

racing or the organization.

Dillon fell from 26th to 31st in the previous rankings after he and the No. 3 team were fined 25 points in

the drivers’ and owners’ standings. Additionally, officials stated that the owners’ and drivers’

championships are also affected by the suspension of playoff status for the victory on Sunday.