NASCAR has penalized the No. 3 Cup Series team of Austin Dillon for an L1-level infraction after this past Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway.
Dillon’s team received the penalty for violating the overall assembled vehicle rules related to the underwing assembly and hardware. Per Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Dillon has been docked 60 points and five playoff points. In addition, NASCAR levied a $75,000 fine against crew chief Keith Rodden and suspended him two races. Dillon’s team plans to appeal the penalty.
“We are disappointed in the penalty that NASCAR issued to Richard Childress Racing (RCR) following the recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, and plan to go through the appeal process,” RCR said in a statement.
Dillon, 32, raced his No. 3 Chevy Camaro ZL1 to a 12th place finish at Martinsville. It’s been a rocky start to the 2023 season for Dillon — just two top 10s through nine races. Dillon sat 21st in the points standings prior to the penalty. He is now in 29th place, likely needing a victory to punch his ticket to the playoffs. Dillon last made a visit to victory lane in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He qualified for the playoffs last season, finishing 11th in the points standings.
Austin Dillon had Best Run of 2023 Season at Bristol Dirt
Dillon had his best run of the season in the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 9. He began the race second and finished third, albeit not leading a single lap.
“I just have to thank [Speedway Motorsports Inc.] for all of the hard work they‘ve done with this dirt racing,” Dillon said after the race. “I don‘t care what anybody says, that was an amazing show throughout the field… Felt like it was some great racing.”
Dillon’s team is the latest to receive a significant penalty in what has been a season full of crackdowns on modifications to the Next Gen car. NASCAR previously docked all four Hendrick Motorsports cars 100 owners points and playoff points for unapproved parts modifications entering the March 12 Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel later ruled to amend the L2-level penalties, restoring the 100 owners points and playoff points to the No. 5, 9, 24 and 48 Cup Series teams. The $100,000 fines, however, were upheld. Each crew chief received a four-race suspension in the initial punishment.