In addition to revoking the playoff eligibility of Austin Dillon, NASCAR also issued a $50,000 fine to Joey Logano for his actions on pit road following the Cook Out 400 on Sunday at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon crashed both Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap to win the race. First, Dillon never lifted into Turn 3 and drove right into the back of Logano after he took the lead from the dominant car of the second on the final restart.
That allowed Hamlin to drive under both of them, Dillon responding by driving hard left into the next challenger to ensure he would cross the line first. NASCAR responded to the telemetry and radio chatter by stripping him of all the perks associated with winning the race.
In real time, Logano drove down pit road and came across the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 pit crew celebrating directly across from the start-finish line, and the two-time champion responded by throttling up, breaking traction, and burning out on a live pit road.
It forced industry personnel to scatter and previous incidents regarding safety on pit road have resulted in the same $50,000 fine issued to Logano.
He was also immediately swarmed as chastised by pit road officials, who told him to ‘fucking stop,’ and he did comply.
Logano just wanted to send a message to Dillon and his team.
“He can come from five car lengths back and completely wreck someone and then wreck another one to the line — and we’re going to call that racing,” Logano said of Dillon after the race.
NASCAR sent a message back that those messages aren’t allowed in that setting.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.