After a number of days of deliberation and evaluation, NASCAR issued a precedent-setting determination to penalize Austin Dillon for the controversial strikes resulting in his Richmond win. Dillon will get to maintain the victory—trophy, cash, and all the things—however his automated playoff berth has been revoked. Plus, each Dillon and the Richard Childress Racing group have been docked 25 factors. NASCAR’s determination—one which , in some methods, sits on the existential crux of the Cup collection decisions to be a “racing collection or a wrecking collection”—was reached primarily based on deeply parsing knowledge, footage, and guidelines to reach at a weighty determination. Knowledge that reveals not solely Dillon’s actions, however his intent.
An immense quantity of video footage and opinions emerged after the race end on Sunday, however with a purpose to totally perceive what occurred, NASCAR wanted to see the SportsMedia Know-how (SMT) knowledge stream. SMT knowledge is an array of telemetry captured from the automobiles displaying data like steering angle and throttle share, together with a handful of different variables. It is obtainable internally to NASCAR rivals (however not the general public, and was shared with me by a supply). Which implies we are able to analyze the identical knowledge that NASCAR officers checked out for Dillon’s final two laps, together with that crash-filled remaining run to the end line.
Within the SMT footage, Dillon’s lap 407 is proven in orange, whereas lap 408—the race’s remaining lap—is proven in blue. Instantly you see that Dillon adopted the underside of the monitor on lap 407, however ended up in the course of the monitor on that final lap.
On this first picture we are able to see the second of influence the place Dillon hits Joey Logano and sends him spinning. Discover instantly that Dillon is larger up on monitor than he was on the ghost picture of his earlier lap, together with using extra throttle at 21% versus the earlier lap at 11%. This means that Dillon was doubtless extra targeted on driving into the again of Logano’s automotive than truly making an attempt to make the nook. If he had not been capable of hit Logano, his momentum would have doubtless despatched him up the monitor and resulted in him failing to make the nook.
Within the video above, crew chiefs Todd Gordon and Travis Peterson analyze these strikes, using overhead footage to point out the yaw angle distinction of the 2 automobiles and are capable of see precisely the place Dillon was pointed up the monitor whereas Logano was making an attempt to make the nook.
As Dillon sends Logano spinning into the wall, Denny Hamlin is positioned on the backside of the monitor simply behind the 2 automobiles—making an attempt to beat Dillon to the end line. Hamlin follows the identical backside line that Dillon used on the earlier lap, whereas Dillon, now in the course of the monitor, tries to search out the shortest path to the end line.
Hamlin ultimately goes even decrease, doubtless in an try to keep away from contact with Dillon and searching for a gap to get to the end line extra rapidly. Dillon is on the throttle making an attempt to get better among the velocity he misplaced in influence with Logano.
The important thing second within the SMT knowledge is discovered simply previous to when Dillon impacts the appropriate rear of Hamlin’s automotive. If we take a look at the steering traces, we are able to see that Dillon has his steering wheel turned 33.9 levels to the left, whereas on the earlier lap in the identical place he had it turned 3.7 levels to the appropriate. This means that he had turned his steering wheel in direction of Hamlin’s automotive. The throttle sensor knowledge additionally reveals that it’s pushed extensive open as he goals his automotive into Hamlin’s.
Whereas SMT knowledge is pretty dependable, it may well’t be used as a solitary supply, so NASCAR officers examined extra video angles. A kind of angles was shared within the Gordon and Peterson video, displaying a view in direction of the entrance finish of Dillon and Hamlin as they tangled. From that shot, we be taught Hamlin skilled some oversteer that prompted the rear of his automotive to slip up the monitor—however the extra necessary info is seen by means of the windshield of Dillon’s No. 3 automotive. Simply previous to the influence, you’ll be able to see his white gloves turning the wheel left, corroborating the steering knowledge from SMT, and successfully proving that Dillon deliberately turned left into Hamlin’s No. 11 automotive.
NASCAR doubtless examined extra knowledge sources, just like the automotive’s crash knowledge recorder, to have extra factors of correlation, which might have taken time to research. With the information in hand, NASCAR then turned to the rule e-book to find out the appropriate penalty for Dillon’s actions. They began with sections B and D underneath rule 4.4, which allowed them to deduct factors primarily based on the NASCAR code of conduct and a competitor taking actions which can be detrimental to inventory automotive racing.
Moreover, NASCAR enforced rule 10.1A which expands on the mechanism for ruling on actions detrimental to inventory automotive racing—in addition to rule 12.3.2.1B, which lists one of many necessities for playoff eligibility, and states that “Race finishes should be unencumbered by violation(s) of the NASCAR Guidelines or different motion(s) detrimental to inventory automotive auto racing or NASCAR as decided within the sole discretion of NASCAR.”
NASCAR doesn’t have a selected mechanism within the rulebook to strip a driver of a win in a scenario like this, however these playoff eligibility guidelines allowed them to revoke Dillon’s playoff berth due the violations beforehand listed. Whereas NASCAR historically lets drivers police themselves in the case of in-race interactions, Sunday’s occasions required the collection to attract a tough line within the sand between what’s acceptable and what’s not in the case of treating rivals like bumper automobiles within the battle for a win—setting a precedent for future incidents.
