NASCAR: Austin Dillon docked 10 points, qualifying speed disallowed

Austin Dillon has had his qualifying speed for the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway disallowed, and he has been docked 10 points in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon was found to have an unapproved alternator following his qualifying attempt for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, the Consumers Energy 400.

Dillon originally qualified for this race in seventh place in his #3 Chevrolet. But his lap time of 38.030 seconds (189.324 miles per hour) around the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) Michigan International Speedway oval in Brooklyn, Michigan has been disallowed as a result of this violation.

Additionally, Dillon’s crew chief, Danny Stockman, has been issued a $25,000 fine, and 10 points have been deducted from Dillon’s point total in the driver standings while 10 points have been deducted from the #3 team’s point total in the owner standings.

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Dillon’s teammate, Daniel Hemric, was issued the same penalty for the same violation after. He originally qualified for this race in 11th place in his #8 Chevrolet. Dillon and Hemric are now set to share the 19th and final row on the starting grid in 37th and 38th.

These two penalties are the first penalties of the season that have resulted in points deductions in the driver standings and/or the owner standings. Dillon was set to enter this race, the 23rd of 36 races on the 2019 schedule, in 22nd place in the championship standings with 410 points, 134 points below the playoff cut line. He still sits in 22nd but with only 400 points, and he is now 144 points below the cut line. He was already pretty much in a position where he needed to win one of the regular season’s final four races in order to advance to the playoffs anyway.

Everybody who originally qualified from eighth through 10th place is set to move up by one position in the starting lineup while everyone who qualifying from 12th through 38th is set to move up by two positions as a result of the penalties that were issued these two drivers.

Coupled with Hemric’s penalty, here is the updated starting lineup for the Consumers Energy 400 at Michigan International Speedway as a result of Dillon’s penalty.

Starting Lineup
1st – Brad Keselowski
2nd – Kevin Harvick
3rd – William Byron
4th – Alex Bowman
5th – Clint Bowyer
6th – Chase Elliott
7th – Ryan Blaney
8th – Joey Logano
9th – Paul Menard
10th – Jimmie Johnson
11th – Daniel Suarez
12th – Aric Almirola
13th – Kurt Busch
14th – Denny Hamlin
15th – Martin Truex Jr.
16th – Erik Jones
17th – Kyle Larson
18th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19th – Matt Tifft
20th – Ryan Newman
21st – Ty Dillon
22nd – Kyle Busch
23rd – Michael McDowell
24th – David Ragan
25th – Chris Buescher
26th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
27th – Matt DiBenedetto
28th – Landon Cassill
29th – Ryan Preece
30th – Ross Chastain
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Quin Houff
33rd – Austin Theriault
34th – Cody Ware
35th – Reed Sorenson
36th – Spencer Boyd
37th – Austin Dillon
38th – Daniel Hemric

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NBC Sports Network’s live broadcast of the Consumers Energy 400 from Michigan International Speedway is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 11, and the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season’s 23rd race itself is set to begin shortly thereafter.

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