NASCAR strips Austin Dillon of playoff berth after he wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for win at Richmond

Austin Dillon’s no longer in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

NASCAR said Wednesday that Dillon would be allowed to keep the win from Sunday’s race at Richmond but wouldn’t be able to use that win to qualify for the playoffs. Dillon crashed both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the last lap in his efforts to make the postseason in NASCAR’s win-and-in playoff format.

Dillon entered the race 32nd in the points standings and appeared to have the race won straight up before a late caution for a crash between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece. After pit stops, Logano got the lead on the ensuing overtime restart and was leading into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap before Dillon dumped him.

As Dillon slowed to avoid Logano’s spinning car, Hamlin went low to pass Dillon for the win. As Hamlin was doing that, Dillon turned low into Hamlin and hooked Hamlin into the wall.

Dillon’s penalty came Wednesday as NASCAR declined to make a ruling in the immediate aftermath of the checkered flag. After the race, NASCAR executive Elton Sawyer said that NASCAR would review what happened on the final lap and that what Dillon did was up against the line of what is and isn’t acceptable on the track.

Dillon was also penalized 25 points for his moves on the final lap in addition to having his playoff spot taken away. He’s now 31st in the points standings and can still qualify for the playoffs if he wins one of the final three races of the regular season at either Michigan, Daytona or Darlington.

His spotter Brandon Benesch was suspended for three races after he was heard saying “wreck him” on the final lap. Logano has been fined $50,000 for revving the engine of his car as he came to a stop on pit road near family and members of Dillon’s team after the race.