Dropping the Hammer: NASCAR Reaps What It Sows With Austin Dillon Fiasco

“Let me get this straight. You think that your client — one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world — is secretly a vigilante, who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.” – Lucius Fox, “The Dark Knight“

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I laughed.

Don’t get me wrong.

When Austin Dillon punted Joey Logano, then proceeded to intentionally right hook Denny Hamlin into Richmond Raceway’s outside wall Sunday (Aug. 11) night, I wasn’t laughing at the dangerous situation Dillon had initiated.

I laughed because, of course Dillon did it.

Which is why I chose the above quote from The Dark Knight to start this column.

Not because of the quote itself, but the way Morgan Freeman delivered the line.

Here, listen for yourself.

Given NASCAR’s appropriate penalty for Richard Childress Racing and Dillon, with his win not making him playoff eligible, read the following in Freeman’s voice.

“Let me get this straight, NASCAR. You created a ‘win-and-or-in’ playoff qualification system, then removed the top 30 in points requirement, then expected a driver — who was 32nd in points, hadn’t won in two years and had only two top 10s this season — to behave reasonably?

“Good luck with that.”

What Dillon did Sunday night in order to salvage a year from hell was over the line.

But NASCAR shares some of the guilt in this situation.

After Corey LaJoie almost won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2022 in a situation where he still wouldn’t have been playoff-eligible because he was below 30th in points, NASCAR took off safety railings that shouldn’t have been removed.

Way back in 2006 — a simpler age, before The Dark Times of the sport’s decline and its increasing obsession with Game 7 moments — NASCAR was worried about someone locking into the postseason with one win.

“We’re trying to see if there is a way to earn a spot in the Chase without harming the integrity of it,” said a sanctioning body spokesperson at the time.

"We're trying to see if there is a way to earn a spot in the Chase without harming the integrity of it."

"NASCAR does not want to ensure a spot in the Chase field to a driver who wins a single race."

Things evolve, but imagine explaining to someone from 2006 our situation… pic.twitter.com/XknjXos36n

— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) August 14, 2024

Times passes. Executive moods — along with playoff field sizes — change.

But it took until the 76th year of NASCAR and the 20th year of the postseason — 11 years after Spingate, that other Richmond playoff controversy — for it to really put a hard button on playoff “integrity.”

It really feels as if the last lap of Sunday’s race was the culmination of every nip-and-tuck NASCAR has made over the last two decades to the playoffs and driver eligibility.

Who needs 10 drivers? Let’s make it 12.

Wait, what if half the field was eligible?

Hold on, let’s introduce an elimination format.

Now, what if all you had to do to make the playoffs was win a race?

Unless you’re top 30 in points, of course.

On second thought, who needs that?

This is exciting, right!?!

Now, let me be clear.

I’m pro-playoff.

I’m pro-elimination format.

The “win-and-you’re-in” idea was, inherently, a good one. It’s given us some good storylines and provided non-elite teams a chance at glory … for a round. Mostly.

But the “integrity” and the importance of the playoffs started evaporating when NASCAR tried to cram as many drivers/sponsors/teams into it as possible.

The same can be said for the All-Star Race and the Clash.

But when you give drivers and teams more and more slack on the leash of playoff eligibility, you shouldn’t be surprised when a very desperate man turns his steering wheel too far.