NASCAR: Austin Dillon not ineligible for the Cup Series playoffs

Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon thought that he was headed to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time since 2022 after winning Sunday night's race at Richmond Raceway.

But because of how he achieved the victory, wrecking Team Penske's Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in the final corner on the final overtime lap, NASCAR made the decision not to count his win toward playoff eligibility.

Dillon's win stands, making it the fifth of his career and the first since he won at Daytona International Speedway in August 2022, but he is no longer locked into the playoffs, and the five playoff points he earned with the victory have been docked from his total.

However, Dillon isn't totally ineligible for the playoffs; he can still get in with a win in any one of the regular season's final three races at Michigan International Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, or Darlington Raceway.

Austin Dillon still eligible for NASCAR playoffs

Dillon sits 265 points below the playoff cut line with three races remaining on the regular season schedule following his 25-point penalty, and there are only 55 points on offer for non-winners in each race. So the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet is in a must-win situation when it comes to potentially securing what would be a sixth career playoff berth.

Fortunately for him, the three tracks remaining on the regular season calendar are some of his best tracks. He has finished as high as fourth place at Michigan (2015 and 2018), he is a two-time winner at Daytona (2018 and 2022), and he has finished as high as second at Darlington (2020).

There have been 12 other winners so far this season, and all of them are locked into the 16-driver playoff field.

So provided it also doesn't get encumbered, another win before the playoffs would indeed secure Dillon a spot in the four-round, 10-race postseason; there is no longer a risk of there being more winners than playoff spots, in which case Dillon would have been in a precarious position, given the fact that he sits all the way down in 31st place in the point standings, 11 spots lower than the next lowest winner (Team Penske's Austin Cindric).

If he does manage to win one of those three races, he would be credited with five playoff points from that win, but he would still not retain the five playoff points he initially earned from his Richmond win.

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