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Dillon kept his win but NASCAR ruled it ineligible for the playoffs, meaning he will have to win one of the next three regular season races.
Dillon’s spotter was also banned until the playoffs for directing the #3 pilot to wreck Denny Hamlin coming onto the front stretch. NASCAR also deducted 25 points from the drivers’ and owners’ standings.
On Thursday morning (AEST), NASCAR finally delivered its verdict.
Despite letting social media discourse fester for days, NASCAR said it needed to take time to come to the correct conclusion.
“The magnitude of this decision needed us to get back, get all the information, be able to work with all of our stakeholders, work with the folks in the industry who have a great deal of experience, gather all that information and then sit down and make a NASCAR decision – and that’s what we did,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition.
“Starting Sunday night, gathering the information, meeting again on Monday as well as yesterday (Tuesday local time) and finally last night (Wednesday) coming to a conclusion of where we landed on the penalty.”
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With the landmark penalty, NASCAR has put a line in the sand. Sawyer said he believes there is very little room for ambiguity about what does and does not cross the line.
Although the bump-and-run is an acceptable move in NASCAR, the category said Dillon’s actions were overzealous.
“This is not something that NASCAR really wants to get in the middle of. For years, we’ve allowed our drivers – and we will continue to allow them – to race,” said Sawyer.
“Every one of the drivers in those national series garages, Cup level, Xfinity level, and Truck level, they understand where the line is.
“They may ask from time to time where is the line. I guarantee you when you walk through there and you ask them, they will know where it is.
“We just felt like in this case, we needed to let them know that we know where the line is as well. This is not something that we’re going to tolerate.”
NASCAR continues at Michigan Speedway with the Xfinity Series on Sunday from 5:30am AEST and the Cup Series on Monday at 4:30am AEST.
