In the aftermath of Austin Dillon’s victory on Sunday night, NASCAR officials were faced with one of their most crucial decisions as a sanctioning body: to punish Dillon for intentionally crashing two drivers en route to victory or to let it go.

The consequences of both decisions would set a precedent. That may sound hyperbolic, but regardless, the result was nothing less than an indicator of where NASCAR would land on the spectrum of professional sports versus professional wrestling.

Finally, after years of letting competitors go all the way to the line in the battle for victories, officers found a driver crossing it. On Wednesday, three days after the checkered flag, NASCAR ruled that Dillon would be allowed to keep his win but would lose the valuable playoff eligibility that came with it.

“Tough NASCAR racing — a little bump, a little tire mark, move a guy out of the track to win a race — we’ve been doing it for years,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition. “What happened on Sunday night crossed the line.”

Given that Richard Childress Racing may appeal the decision, Sawyer did not specify where the line was drawn – the “totality” of the incident and “progression all the way through the turns” is how he put it – but promised all drivers in the garage already know what is acceptable and what is not.

This was the right call, of course. NASCAR must have some kind of minimum driving standard when it comes to what is allowed to win a race.

The current system is structured in such a way that it requires:

• Any full-time driver who wins one of the 26 regular-season races automatically enters the 16-driver playoff field, even if they’ve had a miserable season overall (like Dillon, who hadn’t led a lap all year and was 32nd in the points before Richmond).

• Winning a race during the playoffs automatically advances to the next round for all playoff-eligible drivers.

• Finishing first among the four title contenders in the season finale guarantees a championship.

With everything on the line for victories in today’s NASCAR, officials could not simply allow outright lawlessness in what drivers can do to win. Otherwise, this would be an embarrassingly trashy series where playoff spots and maybe even the title would be decided by unethical, dirty moves.

GO DEEPER

Austin Dillon wins the NASCAR Cup Series race after crashing 2 drivers

For the highest level of American auto racing and the world’s premier form of auto racing, that is simply unacceptable.

GO DEEPER

Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond does not count toward NASCAR playoff eligibility

Nevertheless, this result raises questions.

• If NASCAR had a problem with how Dillon won the Richmond race, why didn’t officials penalize him right now? Issuing a rough driving penalty on Sunday night and dropping him in the order could have prevented days of drama. Sawyer apologized to fans for the delay but said that given the “magnitude of this decision,” NASCAR needed additional time to work through the outcome.

• What does this mean for the standard? It’s easy to say that contact is encouraged, and intentionally destroying for profit is going too far. But putting it into practice requires a lot of judgment and a large gray area that can be controversial. How will officers deal with it in future incidents when the line is not as clear?

• Dillon was not suspended for a right-back hook, which had been the result for Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace when they were involved in similar violations. So is it now murky territory and not as clean as we thought? Sawyer said the playoff suspension penalty was already big enough to send a message, and that NASCAR “didn’t feel we needed to add the suspension to it.”

In general, NASCAR eventually came up with the right result – even if it was delayed. It will calm an upset garage that knows certain lines can’t be crossed, and drivers know they can still make contact without intentionally bulldozing their way to a trophy (although Dillon got to keep his because Sawyer said there were no rules “for the moment” which allowed them to take away the profit).

Should NASCAR figure out how to make these decisions sooner? Absolutely. But thankfully the officials got it right in the end.

(Top image: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)