Dillon loses appeal in bid for playoff reinstatement
CONCORD, N.C. — Austin Dillon‘s overly aggressive victory at Richmond Raceway won’t land him a spot in the Cup Series playoffs.
A NASCAR appeal officer Monday upheld the sanctioning body’s decision to revoke Dillon’s automatic postseason berth that came with his controversial win at Richmond on Aug. 11. Dillon intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano coming out of the final turn to take the checkered flag for his first victory in two years.
Three days later, NASCAR announced that Dillon’s victory “crossed a line.” Officials allowed Dillon to keep the trophy and the prize money but stripped his spot in the 16-driver playoffs, saying his actions were “detrimental to stock car auto racing.”
Dillon and Richard Childress Racing were docked 25 points in both the drivers’ and owners’ standings. Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was suspended for three races for yelling “wreck him!” over the radio as the driver battled with Hamlin down the stretch.
RCR appealed, and National Motorsports final appeal officer Bill Mullis said in Monday’s ruling that race data indicated “that more likely than not a rule violation did occur.”
The decision could cost RCR millions because NASCAR’s charter system pays based on final points standings.
Dillon, though, has one final chance to drive his way into the playoffs; he will need to win at Darlington Raceway on Sunday to make the field.
In NASCAR’s view, Dillon’s moves at Richmond went beyond the hard-racing ethos that’s been part of the Cup Series’ DNA since its 1948 inception. Dillon said he was trying to move Logano’s car, but hitting and turning Hamlin was more of an instant reaction.
“I’ve seen Denny and Joey make moves that have been running people up the track to win,” Dillon said. “This was the first opportunity in two years for me to be able to get a win. … I’ve seen a lot of stuff over the years in NASCAR where people move people, and it’s just part of our sport.”
It was his first win since Aug. 28, 2022, at Daytona. He had just two top-10 finishes this year. Dillon emerged from the chaos in his No. 3 Chevrolet and was roundly booed. That car number was famously driven — often aggressively — by Dale Earnhardt.
“That’s not the way we want our races to end,” said Elton Sawyer, the senior vice president of competition. “That’s not the way we want to decide a champion. That’s not the way we want to decide an event.”
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.
Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.
“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”
Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.
Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.
“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”
As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”
Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz will be sidelined for a week with a facial injury but avoided a fracture.
General manager Jim Nill said Tuesday that Hintz has to keep his heart rate down for 5-7 days to avoid pressure or swelling.
Hintz, 28, was struck in the face by a puck midway through the second period in Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Edmonton. He did not return.
Hintz is tied for second on the Stars in goals (25) and is fourth in points (52) through 59 games this season.
He has 362 points (172 goals, 190 assists) in 451 career games in seven NHL seasons. Dallas drafted him in the second round in 2015.
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