Austin Dillon has lost his appeal of Nascar’s decision to strip him of a playoff spot following his win at Richmond International Speedway earlier this month. Dillon spun Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to earn his first win in two years. An appeals official agreed with Nascar that Dillon “crossed a line” with his actions. Nascar allowed him to keep the victory and prize money, but took away the automatic berth into the postseason.
The final race of the Cup Series regular season is this Sunday night at Darlington. Hear coverage beginning at 5pm Sunday on WBUT.
After Saturday night’s Daytona race that saw Harrison Burton jump from 34th in the point standings to a playoff lock, 13 drivers are already qualified for the Cup Series post-season run to a championship. Kyle Larson would begin the playoffs with the most bonus points thanks to his four wins this season. Christopher Bell and William Byron are right behind Larson with three victories each. Tyler Reddick is currently the regular-season point leader.
Martin Truex, Jr. would need an outright disaster not to make the post-season, but still has not clinched a playoff spot. HHe is 58 points ahead of Bubba Wallace, who is 17th in the point standings. Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher currently hold the final to playoff positions ahead of Wallace and Ross Chastain. Any driver outside of the current top-13 would earn a playoff spot.