Win and you’re in? Not so fast.
That may have been the motto in past years for NASCAR’s playoff elimination format, but 2024 was the year that proved a win gets you in — but only under certain terms and conditions.
Enter the 23rd race of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Richmond Raceway on Aug. 11. Austin Dillon needed a win and only a win to qualify for the playoffs, and he was having the night of his life after passing the dominant car of Denny Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps to go.
Read all of Frontstretch‘s content looking back on 2024 here
Dillon had the fastest car on long runs, and he had the win in the bag with a three-second lead — that is, until Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece wrecked right in front of him in turn 1 to bring out a caution with two laps to go. It was the first caution all night for an incident.
The No. 3 team had a clutch pit stop to keep Dillon in the lead for the restart, and we all know how those last two laps unfolded.
Joey Logano snookered Dillon to take a commanding lead into the final lap, only for Dillon to spin out Logano in turn 3 and right-rear Hamlin’s fast-approaching car at the exit of turn 4 with the checkered flag in sight.
Were Dillon’s moves unethical? Yes. Were they dirty? Yes.
Were they unexpected? No.
As dirty as it was, the only rules Dillon broke at the time of the race were unwritten ones. There was nothing in writing that prevented him from wrecking the two leaders, and he didn’t sugarcoat or try to downplay his actions either. He explicitly said that he “had to do it” in his post-race interview.
Dillon’s SMT data effectively confirmed that both wrecks were intentional alongside his implied confession, and if that wasn’t enough, Dillon’s spotter Brandon Benesch repeatedly yelled, “wreck him!” when Hamlin started gaining ground on him through the final turn.
Dillon made zero friends that night, and while he broke every gentlemen’s agreement one can think of, he left Richmond with a trophy and a playoff berth — the only things that truly mattered.
Richmond wasn’t the first race where a driver wrecked another driver to win — and it won’t be the last, either. But between the radio communications, Dillon’s post-race comments and the fact that he bulldozed not one, but two leaders out of the way in order to win and qualify for the playoffs, Dillon’s actions would force NASCAR’s hand in one way or another.
If NASCAR allowed Dillon’s win and playoff eligibility to stand, it would set a precedent that any form of dirty and overly aggressive driving for a win would be tolerated, no matter how severe or blatant. The respect drivers had for each other would drop from slim to zero, and for drivers like Dillon that would do anything and everything for wins, it would be open season to see how far they could push the new set of rules. Could someone take out their Championship 4 competitors at Phoenix Raceway in order to win the title? Such a ruling would open up that possibility.
On the other hand, stripping Dillon of the win or his playoff eligibility would end of win-and-you’re-in no matter what. Race control would be involved with judgment calls in on-track incidents once again, and Dillon didn’t break any established rules by racing the way he did.
But precedents always have the opportunity to be set, and on Aug. 14, NASCAR decided that enough was enough. Dillon and the No. 3 team were allowed to keep the win, but they were stripped of their playoff eligibility. Benesch was suspended for three races, and the No. 3 team was docked 25 points in both the driver’s and owner’s championships.
In handing out the decision, NASCAR SVP of Competition Elton Sawyer stated that it came to the conclusion that a line was crossed at the ending of Richmond.
Dillon ultimately failed to qualify for the playoffs, and the penalty proved to be a devastating one for him, as well as for Richard Childress Racing. It may have kept the win, but it lost millions of dollars by not qualifying for the owner’s playoffs when it otherwise would have. In retrospect, it’s one of the costliest — if not the costliest — penalty NASCAR has ever handed out.
With the 2024 season in the rearview mirror, the legacy of this Richmond race is that it ultimately forced NASCAR to hand out a Supreme Court-style landmark decision.
In a series where drivers have become aggressive and have started to lose respect for one another, NASCAR ruled that there is a breaking point when it comes to dirty driving. In a series that risked losing its legitimacy in the wake of the finish, NASCAR put a line in the sand, albeit a vague one, about what will and what will not be accepted from drivers when wins and championships are on the line.
Had NASCAR handed the No. 3 a slap on the wrist penalty or no penalty at all on that Wednesday in August, the trajectory of the entire series would be heading down an unprecedented, uncertain and concerning path, a path devoid of driver etiquette and rife with questions about legitimacy.
Instead, NASCAR declared that its former boys-have-at-it era is dead, and it will now take all the necessary steps to reign drivers in when things get out of hand.
About the author
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly columns include “Stat Sheet” and “4 Burning Questions.” He also writes commentary, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Can find on Twitter @stephen_stumpf.
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“Dillon didn’t break any established rules by racing the way he did.”
Yes he did. NASCAR does have a rule about dirty and/or aggressive driving. And they’ve suspended drivers for it before.
Yes, but they have ignored some “rules” for certain drivers, going back in time..
But those were for racers, not steerers
Had Nascar penalized Logano for jumping the restart,…. this wouldn’t have been an issue. 🙈🤷🏼♂️🤣