Richard Childress, the NASCAR team owner with 55 years of experience, has voiced his dissatisfaction with NASCAR’s controversial ruling that cost his team a playoff spot and imposed a historic penalty.
Childress’s comments follow the dismissal of an appeal against the decision that saw Austin Dillon stripped of his Aug. 11 win at Richmond.
The incident in question occurred during the Richmond race where Dillon collided with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the last lap to clinch victory. Typically, such a win would guarantee a playoff berth. However, this security was removed with the penalty along with docked points and a race ban for Austin’s spotter.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps reiterated why it was important to penalize the move. He explained, as quoted by Fox Sports:
“If we hadn’t penalized it, then I think what we would see over the next 12 weeks would look significantly different.
Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 23, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Richard Childress hits out as NASCAR for Austin Dillon penalty.
James Gilbert/Getty Images
“We just can’t have it.
“It really comes down to ‘what do you want your sport to be?’ And that’s why I think we ruled the way we did because we’re not demolition derby; we’re just not. We are a sport that if we had done nothing, we would’ve opened ourselves up for a mess, honestly.”
Childress has addressed the dismissed penalty appeal, stating:
“Their ruling has changed NASCAR racing on the final lap forever.
“It’s over a million dollars to us. The largest fine ever in NASCAR. I’m just disappointed, disappointed, disappointed. That’s all I can say.”
He added:
“The drivers now, they know where a line is, or they think they do.
“They don’t. If you go in a car length – two-and-three-quarters was exactly how far back he was [of Logano], and the other car slows down 3 miles an hour on the last lap, you’re going to bump in a little to get [him] up the race track. Is that over now?
“What is the line? And then if you go to racing somebody off the corner and they get loose [as Hamlin did] and get into you, then does that mean you’re out of the Chase? That’s all I got to say about the ruling. But it has changed racing for a win for sure.”
On top of this, Childress expressed doubts about the fairness of the appeals process, which involved a three-member panel from a rotating pool of about twenty industry personnel, including former drivers and crew chiefs.
“An appointed appeal group — it’s tough to beat an appointment in anything.”
Despite hints of pursuing legal action, Childress refrained from taking NASCAR to court.
“If it was a legal case, we had attorneys look at both sides of it, there was no way we would have lost.”
