NASCAR Took the Right Step Toward Integrity. Now What?

One corner, three drivers and a checkered flag awaited at Richmond Raceway.

After looking well on his way to pulling one of the most shell-shocking upsets of the playoff era, Austin Dillon found himself in a desperate situation. He was three car lengths (four or five, if you agree with Joey Logano) behind Logano with just turns 3 and 4 separating himself and a deflating miss at a win.

What happened next led to an unprecedented amount of media exposure that immediately squabbled in the breathing room set by a two-week Olympic break from a season full of storylines.

Dillon threw his car down into turn 3, hitting Logano’s No. 22 and sending it around. Then, with a hard-charging Denny Hamlin coming by on the inside, Dillon turned left, causing Hamlin’s car to careen into the outside wall.

That left the start/finish line all to Dillon, handing him the trophy and a playoff berth.

You could feel the intensity and sudden gasp of air all at once by everyone. Did a driver who was 32nd in points just make the playoffs? Or, more fittingly, did he just wreck his way in?

The incident spurred a furious reaction from Logano, a calculated, yet frustrated one from Hamlin, and an influx of opinions on social media.

Three days later, the ground-shaking effects grew.

NASCAR officials announced on Wednesday (Aug. 14) that Dillon’s win would not count towards playoff eligibility and the No. 3 team was docked 25 playoff and owners points. Additionally, Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races after audio caught him telling his driver to “wreck” Logano.

Fizzled out by the waves of the storm are the what-ifs of the race. Before the chaos that would ultimately keep Dillon mired outside of the playoffs, his sails were set to capture a comfortable victory and win purely based on speed, something the 34-year-old had received criticism for not having in his previous four wins.

Had Ricky Stenhouse Jr. not have spun Ryan Preece with two laps to go, Dillon would be in the playoffs, and Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain would have experienced more sleepless nights.

Instead of talking about the controversy of the finish, the continuing questions about the fairness of the playoff system and the officiating by NASCAR, we’d be talking about the success of the option tires, creating an intriguing race full of strategy and close battles.

However, the fact is that Dillon’s win is the star of the stage that is currently set.

In just a matter of a couple of days, several drivers past and present have weighed in, many siding with a penalty being necessary. Not surprisingly, Hamlin has echoed his plea for action to be taken since climbing out of his car.

DH asks what would stop someone from doing this at PHX for the Championship if Austin Dillon isn't penalized. 🌵 pic.twitter.com/oTf63RKlzZ

— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) August 12, 2024

The theme at the center of the conflict has been one word Hamlin has used several times: integrity. That notion was certainly pulled into question when it came to the sport’s decision on the matter. Between future officiating decisions and what message would trickle down to young drivers looking to make their way into the sport, my Frontstretch colleague Stephen Stumpf was absolutely correct when he said NASCAR was at a crossroads.

NASCAR’s penalty to Dillon was fair and preserved the integrity of the sport, to a degree. If the sport is going to use a “win and you’re in” system, drivers cannot clean out the competition. And considering Dillon was 32nd in points, having him take a spot from someone like a Buescher who has competed for wins would just damage the look even more.

In Dillon’s defense, his move was his only shot to make the playoffs. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have been just as aggressive in any other format, considering winning is the goal, but the playoffs carry more weight in those split-second moments. Plus, he does get statistical credit for the win as well as the trophy.

Now that the penalty has been handed down and Dillon can technically claim the win, the train is running smoothly now, right?

Not hardly.

First, the process will continue following an immediate appeal made by Richard Childress Racing.

“Richard Childress Racing is very disappointed in NASCAR’s penalty against the No. 3 team,” a team statement read on X/Twitter. We do not agree with the decision that was made and plan to appeal.”

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.

— RCR (@RCRracing) August 14, 2024

Beyond RCR, NASCAR also is not out from under the microscope. If anything, it blazes a long road ahead.

In spite of the two-week hiatus, the Richmond finish continued a string of races where NASCAR Senior Vice President of competition Elton Sawyer had to address the media after the race.

The cycle stems all the way back to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Sawyer had to explain NASCAR’s handling of wet-weather tires during the race.

In three consecutive races between Nashville Superspeedway, the Chicago Street Course and Pocono Raceway, Sawyer discussed on-track incidents between drivers, with all three seeing different consequences.

Following the last race before the break, Sawyer had to account for two questionable calls involving the final restart and not throwing a caution for Preece’s stalled car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That doesn’t include the controversy surrounding William Byron‘s Daytona 500 win, Hamlin’s questionable restart in the Richmond spring race or calling a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 despite the track appearing close to being dry.

More relatable to this past weekend’s events, however, is where the line is among drivers. In a Zoom call with the media following Dillon’s penalty, Sawyer said that NASCAR felt Dillon had crossed a line. That was a shared sentiment by many drivers and team members on the matter.

The problem: what is the line? The Athletic‘s Jeff Gluck asked Sawyer what his response would be to drivers who questioned where the line is drawn, to which Sawyer replied, “I promise you, as a racecar driver, they know where the line is.”

Did most people see the Richmond incident as crossing the line? It appears so, especially in the garage. Do drivers concretely know where that line lies?

Not if you listen to my question to Martin Truex Jr. from the 2023 spring race at Martinsville Speedway. After an incident that saw Hamlin get penalized for wrecking Chastain at Phoenix Raceway while Preece and Larson were not penalized for intentional contact, I asked Truex where the line was.

“No idea,” the 2017 Cup champion replied. “No idea where the line is drawn. I don’t think there even is one.”

Sure, that interview was over a year ago. But not much has changed in that span to consistently define where the line in the sand is. If the drivers don’t know where the line is, then the water continues to get muddied.

The other aspect of this I want to keep an eye on is in NASCAR’s promotional material.

Let’s be honest, no matter what your opinion is of how the Richmond finish played out, it drew eyeballs. It earned extended time on SportsCenter and trended on social media for hours upon hours. Yet, how much can you market it if you punished the driver who caused it?

A recent example was Chastain’s “Hail Melon” move at Martinsville being banned, yet you constantly see that in the sport’s marketing. Sure, you want to promote the exciting, edge-of-your-seat moments to attract new fans. Yet, what if you’re a new fan, see an advertisement for the ‘Hail Melon’ and then find out the sanctioning body outlawed it? The same thing applies in this “bump heard around the world.”

As stated above, NASCAR did the right thing. But this isn’t the end result. There is still much to be done regarding consistency in officiating and what the sport wants its image to be versus what its expectations are from its drivers.

So NASCAR, is this a standard that will be affirmed in the future? The ball is in your court.