Austin Dillon becomes first repeat Cook Out 400 winner in 15 years
Dillon's No 3 Chevrolet came to life late in the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series' penultimate regular season race in Richmond, Virginia, leading him to repeat as winner of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway and join the playoff field.
In successfully defending his title, Dillon became the race's first repeat victor since Denny Hamlin accomplished the feat in 2009 and 2010.
The Richard Childress Racing driver wrecked his way to victory last season through leader Joey Logano and Hamlin off the final turn. NASCAR allowed him to keep the win, but did not let him use it to get into the playoffs.
However, on Saturday, an aggressive pit stop - coming in right after passing leader Ryan Blaney on lap 340 - allowed the 35-year-old from North Carolina to beat Alex Bowman's No 48 Chevrolet by 2.471 seconds for his sixth career win, placing him in the 16-car postseason.
"That felt good. Last year hurt bad going through the whole process of it," said Dillon, who led 107 laps on Saturday, and added he was driving with a broken rib.
"This one feels so sweet, and man, I love Richmond.
"It's so special. Every one of these (wins) means so much to me. My grandfather (Richard Childress), for all that he's put up in believing in me, there's been a lot of ups and downs. It would have been easy for him to change the driver in this 3 car, but today it feels darn good."
Blaney finished third, followed by Logano, who started last for the fourth time in his career. Austin Cindric was fifth.
A Chevrolet driver has won three of the past five races at the three- quarters-mile short track.
Dillon became the 14th different winner, bumping Bowman into the 16th spot in the playoff picture, 60 points ahead of 17th-place Chris Buescher, the first driver below the cut line.
Polesitter Ryan Preece crept away from AJ Allmendinger and Tyler Reddick after earning his second career pole on Friday, while Hamlin moved up to third to start the season's fourth short-track race.
Despite most drivers taking tyres at the midpoint as the rubber fell off, Preece stayed out and lost the lead to Reddick late. Bubba Wallace, Hamlin, Dillon and Cindric rounded out the top five after the 70-lap first stage.
Wallace's No 23 led fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell in the early portions of Stage 2, but after a full green-flag run in Stage 1, the second segment featured three cautions for incidents, including a 16-car pile that started with Chase Briscoe getting hit by Kyle Busch in turn 3.
The melee included Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski and Reddick, who led 41 laps, among others. The No 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott was retired from the event and finished last in 38th.
Wallace earned the top bonus points by clinching the segment. Daniel Suarez, Blaney, Dillon and Bowman were the next four finishers behind Wallace, who led a race-high 123 laps.
However, with Dillon pacing the field, Wallace's left front tyre came off as pit stops began near lap 300, ending a strong run by the Brickyard 400 winner in Indianapolis last month.
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TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Austin Dillon becomes first repeat Cook Out 400 winner in 15 years
Austin Dillon won again in Virginia's capital on Saturday night, this time without any controversy. Dillon's No 3 Chevrolet came to life late in the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series' penultimate regular season race in Richmond, Virginia, leading him to repeat as winner of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway and join the playoff field. In successfully defending his title, Dillon became the race's first repeat victor since Denny Hamlin accomplished the feat in 2009 and 2010. The Richard Childress Racing driver wrecked his way to victory last season through leader Joey Logano and Hamlin off the final turn. NASCAR allowed him to keep the win, but did not let him use it to get into the playoffs. However, on Saturday, an aggressive pit stop - coming in right after passing leader Ryan Blaney on lap 340 - allowed the 35-year-old from North Carolina to beat Alex Bowman's No 48 Chevrolet by 2.471 seconds for his sixth career win, placing him in the 16-car postseason. "That felt good. Last year hurt bad going through the whole process of it," said Dillon, who led 107 laps on Saturday, and added he was driving with a broken rib. "This one feels so sweet, and man, I love Richmond. "It's so special. Every one of these (wins) means so much to me. My grandfather (Richard Childress), for all that he's put up in believing in me, there's been a lot of ups and downs. It would have been easy for him to change the driver in this 3 car, but today it feels darn good." Blaney finished third, followed by Logano, who started last for the fourth time in his career. Austin Cindric was fifth. A Chevrolet driver has won three of the past five races at the three- quarters-mile short track. Dillon became the 14th different winner, bumping Bowman into the 16th spot in the playoff picture, 60 points ahead of 17th-place Chris Buescher, the first driver below the cut line. Polesitter Ryan Preece crept away from AJ Allmendinger and Tyler Reddick after earning his second career pole on Friday, while Hamlin moved up to third to start the season's fourth short-track race. Despite most drivers taking tyres at the midpoint as the rubber fell off, Preece stayed out and lost the lead to Reddick late. Bubba Wallace, Hamlin, Dillon and Cindric rounded out the top five after the 70-lap first stage. Wallace's No 23 led fellow Toyota driver Christopher Bell in the early portions of Stage 2, but after a full green-flag run in Stage 1, the second segment featured three cautions for incidents, including a 16-car pile that started with Chase Briscoe getting hit by Kyle Busch in turn 3. The melee included Hamlin, William Byron, Brad Keselowski and Reddick, who led 41 laps, among others. The No 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott was retired from the event and finished last in 38th. Wallace earned the top bonus points by clinching the segment. Daniel Suarez, Blaney, Dillon and Bowman were the next four finishers behind Wallace, who led a race-high 123 laps. However, with Dillon pacing the field, Wallace's left front tyre came off as pit stops began near lap 300, ending a strong run by the Brickyard 400 winner in Indianapolis last month.
TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- TimesLIVE
NASCAR Cup Series reaches Richmond as drivers angle for playoffs
Time is running out on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, but it can't end fast enough for Ford driver Chris Buescher. Coming off another strong showing at Watkins Glen, though not nearly strong enough to even begin thinking of threatening the nearly invincible Shane van Gisbergen, Buescher is in the 16-car playoff field that will try to raise the season-long trophy in Phoenix. For now, at least. Two races remain to create the postseason lineup, starting with Saturday night's Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. In a rare move by NASCAR, the stop in the Virginia capital is the only one this campaign, marking the first time since 1958 (excluding the 2020 Covid- impacted season) that the top series has raced only once at the short track. Buescher sits on the bubble at 16th, ahead of RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece. He earned 44 points on Sunday - second only to Ryan Blaney's 45 - and expanded his lead to 34 over Preece, driver of the No 60 Ford. With little chance on Sunday of catching and passing Van Gisbergen, the No 17 team decided to focus on points by staying out. Buescher won Stage 1 and ultimately finished third after being passed by Christopher Bell on the last lap. "We took the opportunity to capitalise on some big stage points early," Buescher said after his fourth straight top-10 on the New York road course. "I'm an avid person against points racing, but I do understand our situation at this time." Buescher's crew chief Scott Graves said: "It's a tough decision, but unfortunately it's the box we're in, having to manage the two sides of it." Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch serve as racers who could derail Buescher in his efforts to become one of the 16 competitors seeking a title beginning on August 31 at the Southern 500 in Darlington. The drivers represent the trio below the cut line who have previously won at the 3/4-mile, D-shaped "Action Track" in Virginia's capital, though Buescher also won the race two years ago. All four drivers have won at Richmond and Daytona, where the regular season concludes in another Saturday night shootout next week. The previous Richmond race had an ending that fans of racing on tight bullrings have seen all around the country on Saturday nights. Winless a year ago in the season's 23rd race, Dillon bashed his way to the checkers by punting the Ford of leader Joey Logano in the final turn and right-rearing Denny Hamlin's Toyota into the front stretch wall on the way to his fifth career victory. The last 100 yards of physicality rankled the drivers and crews of the Nos 22 and 11 teams and many others around the sport. Not fond of taking wins away from the first to the line, NASCAR split the difference for the driver of the No 3 immortalised by Dale Earnhardt, whose Wrangler Chevrolet also famously tangled with Darrell Waltrip's ride in 1986 at Richmond, another 3 and 11 dust up. The sanctioning body allowed Dillon's win to stand, but ruled it would not count toward the playoffs, therefore not granting eligibility to the Richard Childress Racing team. When drivers are heading to the start/finish line under caution before restarting, they always get the same message from their spotters: "It'll be one to go when you get here." However, when teams arrive at Richmond this weekend, it'll be two to go in the big picture.
TimesLIVE
5 days ago
- TimesLIVE
NASCAR won't curb celebrations after Connor Zilisch's fall in Victory Lane
Driver Connor Zilisch's headfirst tumble from the roof of his car in Victory Lane last weekend resulted in a broken collarbone but no changes in the customary celebrations, NASCAR said. There will be more attention on the window net, which apparently tangled with Zilisch's left foot as he climbed out of his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet after winning the Mission 200 at The Glen Xfinity Series race on Saturday night. Zilisch, 19, had one foot on the hood and one on the ledge of the window and was posing for photographs when he lost his balance and fell hard to the ground. The rookie was taken off the track on a backboard and to the hospital via ambulance. 'I think that was part of the problem, that the window net was flapping on the outside,' NASCAR MD of communications Mike Forde said during the latest episode of the Hauler Talk podcast released on Wednesday. 'I think Connor even said that may have been a problem, and one of our safety guys actually mentioned the same thing. So, we may do just sort of a check to make sure that if that's inside the car, it's one less thing you can slip on.' Zilisch did not race on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen International Speedway. 'First of all, I'm doing OK,' Zilisch said during the US broadcast of the race. 'Very grateful to be able to walk away from that. I guess I didn't walk away, but I'm very grateful to be walking today and to just be all right. Thank you to all the medics who took care of me, and everybody who reached out and wished me well. I do appreciate it a lot.' Zilisch said he knew he was in trouble just before the fall. 'Yeah, I was climbing out of the car and obviously the window net was on the door, and as soon as they started spraying water, my foot slipped,' Zilisch said. 'The last thing I remember was being halfway down and falling, so I'm glad it wasn't any worse, and that the collarbone is the extent of the injuries, but hate I couldn't make it to the race today.' Forde said on the podcast that NASCAR has not 'put in any policies or best practices or anything like that,' with regard to drivers climbing onto the doorsill while celebrating. Zilisch said he had surgery on his collarbone on Tuesday. The Xfinity Series points leader has not announced his status for the August 22 race at Daytona International Speedway. He already used a playoff waiver for sitting out the May 2 event at Texas Motor Speedway because of a back injury. Forde said Zilisch must request another waiver to remain eligible for the series championship if he misses Daytona or other races. 'He has to miss a race first, so we're probably a good two weeks away from even receiving a waiver request from Connor,' Forde said. 'We'll get with the doctors and find out where he is.' Forde said that if Zilisch was medically cleared to race but chose to miss races while healing before the playoffs, NASCAR would consider it. Driver Alex Bowman, for example, missed a race in 2022 at Martinsville Speedway after being cleared during recovery from a concussion. 'It's a case-by-case basis,' Forde said.
