NASCAR Rumors: RCR faces potential $2,000,000 financial hit amid Austin Dillon penalty appeal

Richard Childress Racing continues to battle for the Richmond penalty after losing their first appeal from the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. Moreover, it's not just the slippage of points standings that would affect RCR but also the sizeable payout by NASCAR for the team's finish for the next three seasons.

Austin Dillon and the #3 Chevy were under the scanner after Dillon's controversial win at Richmond Raceway on August 11. On the final lap of the Cook Out 400, Dillon drove through Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on turns 3 and 4 to win his maiden race of the season.

As a result, NASCAR's sanctioning body stripped Dillon's playoff berth and docked 25 points. Also, the team's spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races.

Furthermore, Richard Childress' team claimed to be "disappointed" in the ruling of the outcome and is preparing for a final appeal to the Final Appeal Officer. If the appeal doesn't come under RCR's favorable condition, the team could potentially be hit with $2 million on the payout handed out by NASCAR for the team's final finish. Moreover, it would impact the bonuses given by the sponsors.

A report by Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass stated:

"RCR has to appeal. The difference of potential 15 spots in the standings between making the playoffs and where Dillon sits can mean more than $2 million in payouts as a team’s finish in the standings impacts how much NASCAR pays a team over the next three seasons. The difference in making the playoffs or not also could impact bonuses the team is due from sponsors."

This leaves RCR with no choice but to appeal Dillon's penalty appeal.

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"It's hard to hide from the data" - NASCAR president on penalty issued to Austin Dillon

In a recent conversation with former NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick, NASCAR president Steve Phelps discussed the decision made to penalize Austin Dillon on the chaotic last lap at the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Speaking in an episode of Harvick's Happy Hour podcast, Phelps defended #3 Dillon's penalty and said:

"I think, as we were looking at, again, the data and what happened — it happened so quickly — but you had two incidents in a split-second right. Turn 3 had an incident. Turn 4, you had an incident, and then the race was concluded... Because you had a second move, and the second move was a hook, in our opinion, right? Which was both the eye test as well as the data would suggest that's what happened. It's hard to hide from the data, right?"

"And then he put a competitor also at risk, right? Denny took a hard hit, one of the hardest hits I think he's had in this Next Gen car. And there was a line that was crossed, in our opinion." he added.

Before NASCAR enters the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race at Daytona International Speedway, Dillon is placed at P29 in the overall Cup Series standings. He now stands with a slim of chance of making it to the playoff as he just has two races left to redeem himself and the RCR team.