BROOKLYN, Mich. — Drivers often say they would ruin their mother to win a race. They must exude that aggressive spirit to excite their fans, gain the respect of their team members and possibly get the attention of their competitors.

But here’s the catch: some really wouldn’t do it, and the definition of “failure” varies from rider to rider.

Most said Austin Dillon’s Aug. 11 win at Richmond Raceway was taken to the extreme when he sped into Joey Logano, sent him spinning, and then clipped Denny Hamlin on his way to the win. He said the clipping wasn’t intentional, he was just trying to get his car across the finish line.

NASCAR did not initially penalize Dillon, but announced last week that Dillon would not be allowed to use the win for an automatic spot in the NASCAR playoffs. NASCAR rules allow NASCAR to revoke that spot and state that the finishes “cannot be affected by violations of NASCAR rules or other actions that are detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR.”

Richard Childress Racing has appealed the decision, with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday. NASCAR rules require the sanctioning body to prove that “it is more likely than not that a violation occurred and that the penalty imposed is within the rules.”

“Everyone at RCR deserves to be in the playoffs and we’re going to do our best to show our position in that (calling),” Dillon said. “And after that, (I’m focused on) winning Daytona or Darlington, whatever comes next.”

NASCAR officials said the decision was made to protect the integrity of the sport, meaning they expect drivers would continue to resort to such extremes if NASCAR did not make a decision.

So would they do that?

“You race by the rules, and if the rules allow something to be OK, we’ll probably find a way to make it happen, right?” said team owner and driver Brad Keselowski. “Whether it’s in the car or on the track.”

His driver Chris Buescher, however, could not imagine this. He had the opportunity to fight for victory at the end of the Kansas race earlier this year.

“If I had been willing to do something different, the end in Kansas would have had as much meaning as the next three, and I would have done something crazy there,” Buescher said. “But that’s not how I grew up on this. … Whatever the verdict is – it may not be the most clear when you try to put it on paper – but I know.”

Dillon said bluntly on Sunday after the move that “a lot of people lose their jobs because they don’t get to the start-finish line first.” Data shows Dillon turns left much sharper than a car driver would in the corner, and Hamlin stated that the data shows intent, regardless of how he reacted after the Logano collision.

“Every time something happens, you have to look back at a previous event and ask, ‘Is this OK or not?'” Logano said. “There’s no doubt that lines were crossed. That’s the conclusion they all came to when they imposed the penalties.”

“That’s what you’re going to do from now on.”

Logano has had his share of collisions while battling for the win, although he would argue that the driver on the other end was not wrecked and/or was pushing him hard to pass him. Kyle Busch, Dillon’s teammate who once threw Logano to the ground after a race for wrecking him, saw the situation as ironic and defended Dillon, who Logano said was a “bad” driver.

“Obviously there’s a right way and a wrong way to win races,” Busch said. “There are a lot of guys who have done desperate things to win, even when they weren’t desperate.”

“The guy (Logano) that this happened to is probably the guy who has done it the most and shouldn’t have to do it. I guess his comments suggest he can call himself that.”

There can be a right way and a wrong way in the eyes of drivers … and both can differ from what is legal in NASCAR’s eyes. Busch said a driver has to approach it pretty much the same way Dillon did at Richmond.

“You do what you can and what you think is necessary at the moment and reap the consequences later,” said Busch.

The consequences can fall on more than just NASCAR. Reputation is very important and the sport can police itself by ensuring that drivers who don’t get along well with others never get an inch in the give-and-take environment of racing. Todd Gilliland said his mother asked him after the race if he would make such a move.

“When he’s on the bumper, theoretically he wants to push the 22 (of Logano) out of the way and basically race to the finish line,” Gilliland said. “But to me, it was just an accident and I’m hoping for the best.”

“He had his whole future ahead of him for the rest of the season. So personally I don’t think I would have done that, but we obviously saw that it was close to working out.”

Some drivers said they would not take this step, although it could also depend on the circumstances and the driver’s performance in this or previous races.

“I don’t think I could,” said Erik Jones, who is 27th in the overall standings. “That’s not to say things can’t change right now, and the way you’ve ridden before changes things.”

“That obviously wasn’t the case here, but it depends on what happens. It’s really not in my playbook.”

Drivers expect there will still be frequent contact, especially in the closing laps when NASCAR has given them leeway to jostle others with their cars, and especially when returning a shove used in a bump-and-run maneuver.

“We’ll still make contact, but it will certainly give us pause in situations like last weekend where it’s not worth taking someone out of the race that deserves to race, and that’s the fair part of the sport,” Hamlin said.

“Here, a balance between entertainment and sport is possible. It just depends on where you really have to speak with authority, and we have to control the sporting aspect.”

But where exactly do they put the power factor?

“There is the culture of the driver, the culture of the workshop, the culture of the sport,” said Keselowski. “Culture is not just what you practice and preach, but what you tolerate, whether in sport or in other areas of life.”

“NASCAR had to decide what could be tolerated. I think they made a good attempt to draw a clear line. We’ll see if that holds up.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has covered motorsports for decades, including over 30 Daytona 500s, and has worked for ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Subscribe.

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