Richard Childress did not mince words Saturday morning at Darlington Raceway when he addressed penalties issued to Austin Dillon and the No. 3 team, as well as two failed appeals.
"Their ruling has changed NASCAR racing, on the final lap, forever," Childress told media members ahead of Cup Series practice. "The drivers now, they know where the line is, or they think they do.
"If you go in a car length -- and 2-3-quarters was exactly how far back (Dillon) was -- and the other car slows down three miles-per-hour on the last lap, you're going to bump him a little to get him up the race track. Is that over now?
"What is the line? And then if you go to racing somebody off of the corner, and they get loose and get into you, then does that mean you're out of the Chase? That's all I've got to say about the ruling. But it has changed racing for a win for sure."
The penalties issued to Dillon and the No. 3 team came from the overtime finish at Richmond. Dillon hit Joey Logano from behind after taking the white flag, which sent the No. 22 spinning. Dillon then made contact with Denny Hamlin and hooked the No. 11 into the outside wall.
Dillon won the race and temporarily put himself into the playoffs. However, NASCAR penalized him the following week. Dillon kept the win, but he lost his playoff eligibility. He also lost 25 driver points while the No. 3 team lost 25 owner points.
RCR appealed the penalty and lost. The team then took its case to the Final Appeal Officer, who upheld the original penalty. This final appeal was essentially the last course of action available to the team.
Dillon and RCR kept the prize purse and the trophy from the win, but Childress says the penalties had a far greater cost to his team. Instead of moving to 16th in points once the playoffs begin, Dillon remains 29th in points.
"Over a million dollars, so, that's what it boils down to," Childress added. "(The) largest fine ever in NASCAR. I'm just disappointed, disappointed, disappointed. That's all I can say. When I write my book, that will be a chapter in it."
When questioned about potential legal action, the longtime team owner said that this was not something he had considered. However, he said that the team had lawyers look at the appeal from both sides. Childress said that "there's no way" the team would have lost the appeal in a courtroom.