NASCAR: Austin Dillon's penalty could end another driver's season

Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon initially qualified for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs by winning at Richmond Raceway in August, but because of how he did it, wrecking Team Penske's Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in the final corner to take the checkered flag, NASCAR encumbered his victory from a postseason standpoint.

Dillon did not win again during the regular season, so he failed to secure a spot in the 16-driver postseason for the second year in a row for the first time since his first two seasons in the Cup Series back in 2014 and 2015.

There were 15 different winners during the 26-race regular season, but because Dillon's win did not count toward his playoff eligibility, only 14 of them secured playoff spots, leaving two spots, not one, open for drivers to lock in on points.

Thanks to Dillon, Truex makes playoffs in final full season

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. secured those two spots on points, with Truex ultimately being the driver who got in because of Dillon's exclusion.

Two races into the three-race opening round of the four-round, 10-race playoffs, Dillon, who would have entered the playoffs with 2,005 points (2,000 plus five playoff points for his race win), has only scored 26 points.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs currently occupies the 12th and final spot above the round of 12 cut line with 2,049 points, meaning that Dillon would be 18 points behind him heading into the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In other words, Dillon would not be much of a threat to advance, especially considering the fact that Bristol is one of his worst race tracks and he has not finished in the top 10 on the track's concrete surface in more than four years.

Truex himself finds himself 14 points below the cut line, but he has been much stronger at Bristol over the years, including back in March when he finished in second place after leading 54 laps around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennessee oval.

If Truex ends up advancing to the round of 12 and Dillon's "would-be" point total remains outside of the top 12, then Dillon's penalty will have cost another driver a spot in the quarterfinal round, since whoever finishes the round of 16 in 13th place in the standings would have advanced had Truex been left out of the playoffs.

Hamlin is currently the top driver below the cut line, followed by RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski. Hamlin is six points behind, while Keselowski is 12 behind. Wood Brothers Racing's Harrison Burton is a longshot to advance from 16th and last place, 20 points behind.

Will Dillon's penalty end up keeping another driver from advancing to the round of 12? Tune in to USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET this Saturday, September 21 for the live broadcast of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway. If you have not yet had the chance to begin a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss any of the live coverage throughout the rest of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs!