NASCAR penalty to Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon upheld by appeals panel
Austin Dillon isn’t getting back any of the points he recently lost.
Last month, the driver of the No. 3 car for Richard Childress Racing was dealt significant penalties by NASCAR for violating vehicle assemblage rules (specifically the “Underwing Assembly Mounting”). Among the penalties levied: a loss of 60 driver and owner points, the loss of five Playoff points to the driver and owner, and a $75,000 fine and two-race suspension to crew chief Keith Rodden.
On Tuesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard and considered RCR’s appeal — and the panel sided with NASCAR.
“As submitted the nuts are not a thread locking device — they are connected and part of the turn buckle,” stated the panel, which was comprised of J. Kirk Russell, Lake Speed and Kevin Whitaker. “The nuts do not lock the assembly. Therefore, the assembly has been modified.”
This decision might not seem all that consequential on its own. But appeals before it make the panel’s decision an important one.
In March, NASCAR levied harsh penalties to Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing for manipulating single-source-supplied parts. Both teams violated the same rule, but Hendrick appealed and saw its points restored while Kaulig appealed and still saw a substantial points penalty — spawning confusion and conversation and frustration around the appeals process.
NASCAR soon responded by making amendments to its rule book to try to prevent this from happening again. Among those changes: NASCAR has the right to publish appeals panel/final appeals officer justification for modifying or rescinding a penalty, and the NMAP/FAO “may not completely remove any element of the originally assessed penalty provided in the penalty notice as defined in Rule Book Section 10.5.2 Determination of Penalties.”
The Dillon case was the first that employed an explanation.
RCR released a statement on Tuesday indicating that it would not bring this case to the Final Appeals Officer.
“While we are disappointed in today’s ruling,” the race team wrote, “we look forward to having this issue in the rear-view mirror so we can focus on the rest of the 2023 NASCAR season.”
This story was originally published May 2, 2023 at 1:21 PM.
