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Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s guest, David Hoots has given his take on Austin Dillon's playoff-robbing penalty. The former NASCAR Race Director drew parallels with CARS Tour and said things could've been a "lot simpler," had the officials' decision not taken days to land.
The Richard Childress Racing driver was running third before entering the final corner of the Richmond Raceway, with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin leading the way. However, in pursuit of snapping RCR's 2024 victory drought and punching his playoff berth, the #3 Chevy driver deliberately wrecked out Logano and Hamlin, won the race, and entered the playoffs.
Three days after the fateful final lap, NASCAR decided the move was violative of the Rule Book which states, “Race finishes must be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Rules or other action(s) detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.”
Though Dillon kept the win, he was stripped from the playoffs and was given a 25-point reduction. Despite RCR's appeals, their #3 driver's penalty was upheld.
While conversing with David Hoots, Dale Earnhardt Jr., during the Dirty Mo Media podcast, asked the former race director for his take on Dillon's penalty.
"We just had the issue at Richmond with Austin Dillon. I wonder what's your opinion of the ultimate decision?" Junior questioned.
Hoots cited an example of recent chaos at CARS Tour's throwback weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway and opined things could've been simpler if NASCAR made the "instant" call and said.
"Let's take the CARS Tour at Hickory and apply it to Richmond. The call was made instantly, it was done; Put it in the victory lane, and it's over. Had that kind of judgment been applied at Richmond, it would have been a lot simpler. When you opened yourself up to penalizing him after the fact, you opened up the appeal process," Hoots said.
"Applying it then in the moment is simpler and it aligns to what I think...we want the winner to be the winner when we go home. It happened a couple of times," Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s guest added.
The CARS Tour race at Hickory took off on July 28 and witnessed Connor Hall finishing first after spinning out Ryan Millington. However, the officials were quick with their verdict and "instantly" promoted Ronnie Bassett Jr. as the race winner.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. hands his opinion on Austin Dillon's Richmond Penalty
Placed sixth in the qualifying, Dillon secured his second-best start in the 2024 season at Richmond. The first was at the Talladega Superspeedway, where the #3 Chevy driver stood the fifth-fastest.
Moreover, unlike his teammate Kyle Busch, who started 12th and couldn't keep himself with the frontrunners, Dillon kept his ride inside the top 10 for most of the Cook Out 400. The #3 Chevy driver finished seventh in Stage 1 and climbed to fifth in the second stage.
Before his Richmond weekend, Dillon only had two top-5s and was nowhere near the playoff picture. However, he saw an opportunity during the final lap but Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were the obstacles.
That said, Dillon crashed out Logano and was asked by his spotter Brandon Benesch, to "wreck" Hamlin. The RCR driver followed his spotter's instruction and placed his ride in the victory lane. Benesch was given a three-race suspension for his call but was reduced to two after the final appeal.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. opined on NASCAR's decision and said, "Time will tell" if the judgment is good for the sport. He said (via Dirty Mo Media on X).
"I think time will tell whether this is a good decision for NASCAR. All of the things that they tried to do on the front end, were probably correct but there were some other things on adding people to the playoffs and trying to make that right that I didn't believe in. You kind of worry, whether they've got this right," Junior said.
Though Dale Earnhardt Jr. was unsure of the penalty's implications, he affirmed it's "not detrimental in hurting the sport."
