Austin Dillon’s Martinsville Penalty Upheld

May 2, 2023
2:04 pm
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Joshua Lipowski

NASCAR announces that Austin Dillon's L1 penalty sustained at Martinsville Speedway was upheld by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel

What’s Happening?

The appeal for Austin Dillon’s Martinsville penalty proved to be unsuccessful on Tuesday. NASCAR announced that the three person panel of J. Kirk Russell, Lake Speed, and Kevin Whittaker upheld the penalties regarding underwing assembly and hardware. Dillon now loses 60 driver points and five playoff points, and crew chief Keith Rodden is fined $75,000 plus a two race suspension.

Austin Dillon was originally penalized following a 12th place finish at Martinsville Speedway on April 16th. The penalty drops him to 31st in the points standings.
The penalty comes amongst a flurry of controversial penalties during the beginning of the season. Most notably the appeals panel reducing penalties given to Hendrick Motorsports after parts were confiscated at Phoenix Raceway in March.
Some fans on social media are upset because of the inconsistency from the Hendrick decision almost a month ago.

The Main Characters

NASCAR penalized Austin Dillon for infractions at Martinsville Speedway on April 16.

NEWS: The No. 3 car has been issued an L1-level penalty following @MartinsvilleSwy.

Crew chief Keith Rodden has been fined $75,000 and suspended from the next two points events.

The team and driver have been assessed with the loss of 60 points and 5 NASCAR Playoff points. pic.twitter.com/slhZTq7a3w
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 19, 2023

Richard Childreaa Racing announced their intention to appeal shortly thereafter.

pic.twitter.com/BGeQxGn9NH
— RCR (@RCRracing) April 19, 2023

NASCAR announced the penalty was upheld by the appeals panel on Tuesday.

A #NASCAR appeals panel has upheld penalties assessed to driver Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing. https://t.co/SL7znKhH3N
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) May 2, 2023

Bob Pockrass offers more insight into what specifically the team was penalized for.

RCR loses appeal on its Martinsville penalties for underwing assembly modifications. Panel: “As submitted the nuts are not a thread locking device – they are connected and part of the turn buckle. The nuts do not lock the assembly. Therefore, the assembly has been modified.”
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 2, 2023

Some more insight from Pockrass on the appeals panel.

The appeals panel that heard the RCR appeal: longtime motorsports executive J. Kirk Russell, former driver Lake Speed and Greenville-Pickens owner Kevin Whitaker https://t.co/0PtI5WqzkW
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 2, 2023

In the Stands

Televised live on NASCAR Race Hub.

MrPissant on Twitter is unhappy with this appeal versus Hendrick Motorsports.

He does have 3 career wins in all fairness.

They were indeed very specific in what they said.

On Your Screen

Timing is indeed very intriguing

Now with this in the rearview mirror, Dillon will likely have to get a win to get into the playoffs. This is something he did do last year. Is there a spontaneous rain shower scheduled for a race coming up?