Austin Dillon’s penalty upheld after failed appeal

Austin Dillon will remain sixty points less than usual. On Tuesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel announced Richard Childress Racing‘s appeal of Dillon’s L1-level penalty from Martinsville in April has been upheld.

“While we are disappointed in today’s ruling, we look forward to having this issue in the rear-view mirror so we can focus on the rest of the 2023 NASCAR season,” reads a team statement.

Dillon had been busted for modifying the underwing assembly mounting, which must remain rigid in all directions during a race under Section 14.6.1 of the rulebook. The assembly in the underwing holds up parts at the front of the car like the splitter and is generally tightened once a height is set via ball joints and turnbuckles. If it is not in place, the splitter could be manipulated mid-race to impact aerodynamics.

“As submitted the nuts are not a thread locking device – they are connected and part of the turn buckle,” the panel explained. “The nuts do not lock the assembly. Therefore, the assembly has been modified.”

Dillon remains thirty-first in the standings. Had the penalty not occurred, he would be twenty-fourth with 193 points. He has two top tens through the first eleven races with a best finish of third at Bristol Dirt.

The appeal is the second by a Cup team to fail after Denny Hamlin‘s for his incident at Phoenix. On the other hand, successful Cup appeals include fellow Chevrolet outfits Hendrick Motorsports and Justin Haley.