Dillon penalty boxes in NASCAR, Logano lucky his isn’t worse

On Sunday night at Richmond International Raceway, Austin Dillon wrecked his way to a thrilling season-saving victory that returned him to the winner’s circle for the first time in nearly two years and also earned him a coveted spot in the NASCAR Playoffs … until it didn’t. On Wednesday, NASCAR announced that Dillon would keep the win but it would no longer count toward his postseason eligibility. The sanctioning body also suspended his spotter for three races and fined Joey Logano, one of Dillon’s two in-race victims, $50,000 for angrily weaving through people on the postrace pit lane on his way to express his displeasure to Dillon’s crew.

It’s a lot to process. A lot of people are angry and have been since Sunday night. So, who better to sift through the physical, emotional and financial wreckage than Marty & McGee?

McGee: First things first. What did you think of the Richmond finish over the weekend before all this other news and podcasts and penalties happened?

Marty: I thought it was desperate by Dillon, but he was in a desperate position. And given the context of the rules under which he was playing in the moment, I don’t blame him one bit for doing what he did.

McGee: Agreed.

Marty: He is the heir of his grandfather’s racing organization that has had an awful year, competitively irrelevant, very rarely made any speed. And for one of the first times all year long, you’re actually running up front all night. And if you go back and look at the practice speeds, he was making speed all weekend, so he had a legitimately good race car. This is an opportunity for him to supplant other drivers that were dozens of positions ahead of him in the point standings and guarantee himself, in that moment, the opportunity for his team to get all the exposure, any bonus money, any escalators, of being a playoff team at the highest level of American motorsport. So, he did what he had to do. And there is a hell of a long line of sinners who’ve done the same thing and been celebrated for it.

McGee: There have always been those racers…