For the second year in a row, Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon scored an upset victory at Richmond Raceway, and unlike last year, he actually gets to keep his NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot this time around, having not wrecked two drivers to win like he did a year ago.
All things considered, Dillon becoming the 2025 season's 14th different winner made the playoff picture simple. Just two spots are still open, and the two drivers currently occupying those spots on points, 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman, can only possibly be bumped out if a winner from below the cut line emerges in this coming Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
The top two drivers below the cut line are RFK Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece. Both would still be eligible to get in on points had it not been for penalties earlier in the season, with Buescher issued a points penalty after the May race at Kansas Speedway and Preece disqualified from P2 in the April race at Talladega Superspeedway.
But aside from that, what Dillon's win did was save RFK Racing from potentially second guessing their decision to appeal Buescher's Kansas penalty.
RFK Racing saved from ironic headache
Had Dillon not won at Richmond, the cut line would be between Buescher and Preece, with Buescher ahead by 34 points.
That number would be four points had RFK Racing not gotten Buescher's points penalty reduced from 60 points to 30 following the Kansas race.
In other words, the would-be points battle between Buescher and Preece may very well have come down to RFK Racing's decision to appeal that penalty, and that decision very well could have been what ended up costing Preece his first career playoff spot.
Of course, not all is well in RFK world heading into the Daytona regular season finale.
All three of their drivers, the other being team co-owner Brad Keselowski, now absolutely need to win to get into the playoffs, and if they do not find victory lane, the entire team will be left out of the postseason, despite having had a relatively strong season overall, with Buescher 11th in points, Preece in a career-high 13th, and Keselowski in 19th despite early-season struggles.
But at least now, thanks to Dillon, they can enter Daytona knowing that their penalty appeal has no chance of costing one of their own drivers a playoff spot.
Tune in to NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 23 for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the action!