NASCAR: Major playoff penalty ends up being completely meaningless

Even had Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon not been removed from the playoffs after winning at Richmond Raceway, he still would have been eliminated by now anyway.

Trackhouse Racing Team's Daniel Suarez was the 12th and final driver to advance to the round of 12, and he did so with a point total of 2,085. He started the playoffs with 2,006 points (one race win and one stage win), and he scored 79 points in the three round of 16 races.

Dillon would have started the playoffs with 2,005 points (one race win), and he only scored 42 points, which would have meant he failed to advance by a sizable 38-point margin.

Austin Dillon penalty proves entirely meaningless

The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet originally punched his ticket to the four-round, 10-race postseason with his win at Richmond, but because of how he achieved it, wrecking both Team Penske's Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin in the final corner on the final lap, NASCAR ruled that his win would not count toward playoff eligibility.

Dillon did not win again during the regular season after that, and Richard Childress Racing's multiple appeals were denied, leaving the 2018 Daytona 500 winner on the outside looking in.

He was one of 15 drivers who won a regular season race. So instead of just one spot in the 16-driver playoff field being left open for a driver to lock in on points, there were two, as only 14 of those winners advanced to the postseason.

Thanks to Dillon's penalty, Joe Gibbs Racing's Martin Truex Jr. ended up getting into the playoffs in what is his final season as a full-time Cup Series driver.

But Truex himself did not advance from the round of 16 to the round of 12, meaning that Dillon's penalty ended up being completely meaningless. Had Dillon gotten in instead of Truex, the same exact group of 12 drivers would be moving on from the opening round to the quarterfinal round.

The round of 12 is scheduled to get underway next Sunday, September 29 with the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET. USA Network is set to provide live coverage from Kansas Speedway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. If you have not yet had a chance to start a free trial of FuboTV, do so now and don't miss it!