Austin Dillon reacts to SMT data on Richmond wrecks, whether it supports NASCAR penalty appeal

The only story anyone seems to be talking about in NASCAR this week is the fallout from Austin Dillon‘s win at the Cook Out 400 in Richmond.

Dillon wiped out both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final turn of the race, taking the checkered flag under the most highly controversial of circumstances. For his driving, NASCAR penalized him 25 Cup Series points and stripped his playoff eligibility based on the win on the grounds that the way he drove was detrimental to the sport.

Richard Childress Racing will appeal the ruling, and Dillon can’t wait to see the outcome based on the SMT data he’s seen.

“Right now I don’t even want to talk about anything that went down in turns 3 and 4, because I’ve got to get to the appeals process,” Austin Dillon said on the Marty & McGee show on ESPN. “Because obviously everything is taken into consideration by NASCAR. For us, our best thing is to say, ‘Look, we had the best car, a three-second lead with two laps to go’ and wait to give the opinion that I have, the guy that was driving the race car has, after the appeal.”

That said, Austin Dillon has an interesting idea for NASCAR’s appeal process.

He’d like to see it formalized and turned into a bit of a spectacle. Few would argue there wouldn’t be heavy interest, at least in this case.

“I think it would be interesting if one day the appeal process was put on a show,” Dillon said. “It’s almost like we’re going to trial to state our case. So it’s literally taking advice from how to present things to NASCAR. I think Denny does a very good job in one of his podcasts, actually, explaining the entire appeal process.

“We have to do our job to do the best we can to lay everything out there that shows that we have no regrets on what happened this past weekend in winning the race. And because of the precedent that has been set by everyone before me in NASCAR.”

If Austin Dillon isn’t able to win his penalty appeal it’ll be an uphill climb to the playoffs. He’s currently sitting 31st in points, almost certainly too large a gap to make up without a win in the final three races of the regular season.

Needless to say, the outcome of the appeals process is vital to him.

“So I’m excited for this process to see how it works out, but either way in the end, if it goes the right way or the wrong way, I’m proud of the win that we took home at Richmond and we’ll do our best over the next three weeks to win again to get into the playoffs,” Dillon said.