Cook Out 400: Austin Dillon pulls an…interesting move to seal the win in Richmond

RCR’s Austin Dillon seals his first victory in two years after a last lap scuffle with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.

The race at Richmond began as the last one ended, with JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. at the front of the field. To start the day, the #11 of Hamlin jumped to the lead of his home race. 47 laps into the run, however, Hamlin’s other JGR teammate Christopher Bell would takeover from the Virginia native, with the Oklahoma driver taking his #20 to the point in lapped traffic. 

Bell would stay at the front and win the opening stage. 

Stage One Results:

1. #20
2. #11
3. #19
4. #22
5. #23
6. #9
7. #3
8. #17
9. #45
10.  #4

During the stage caution, race leader Christopher Bell would collide with both the #43 of Erik Jones and the #10 of Noah Gragson, lightly damaging the front of the #20 car. This cycle of stops would be the first to showcase NASCAR’s new option tire, initially debuted at North Wilkeseboro Speedway, as the #99 of Daniel Suárez and the #34 of Michael McDowell.

The green flag waived on lap 81 with Bell and Hamlin back up front. The two would fight over the top spot for several laps before the hometown boy finally secured his spot at the front.

Rocketing to the front shortly after the restart was the #99 of Suárez on the softer option tires, who quickly climbed his way up to the top 5 and eventually the lead by passing the #11 car. Fellow option tire driver Michael McDowell was also on rails with these softer tires, having driven up from last on track to the top 10.

On lap 123, the pit stop cycle began, with more drivers switching to the softer option tires. During the cycle, Bell’s #20 reclaimed the lead with Suárez, back on the prime tires, in 2nd behind him. On lap 188, the #99 once again passes the #20 for the lead of the race. Suárez would run away with it for the win in the second stage, his first stage win in two years.

Stage Two Results:

1. #99
2. #20
3. #11
4. #22
5. #3
6. #34
7. #45
8. #23
9. #77
10. #9

For the start of the third stage, the majority of the field opted to start on the option tires, with only Suárez up front on the prime tires. Suárez and Bell lined up out front with Bell jumping to the lead on the softer tires.

A few laps later, the #19 of Martin Truex Jr. would pull off the track due to a suspected engine problem. Yet to be locked into the playoffs, the 2017 champion would not finish the race.

The pit cycle started on lap 280, with the majority of option runners jumping over to the prime tires. The most dominant car of the day, the #20, would be penalized for speeding, and taken out of the lead. The #99 would pit and pass the lead to the #11, who managed to clear the #3 on his way out of the pits.

Austin Dillon’s #3 began to chase down the #11 of Hamlin, with Suárez trying to come from behind on the option tires. On lap 372, Dillon passed Hamlin for the lead of the race. The #3 looked to be running away with it, until the penultimate lap. The #47 of Stenhouse Jr. and #41 of Preece collided into turn 1, bringing out the first caution for incident on the day.

Dillon and Logano lined up first on the overtime attempt, but the 2-time champion got the jump on the #3 and looked to be cruising away with the win. Going into the final corner on the final lap, it looks to be Logano’s race to lose. However, Dillon sends his car into turn 3, spinning the #22. The #11 of Hamlin tried to sneak through but the #3 hung a left and spun Hamlin back into the wall. The #3 would survive to take his first win of 2024 and lock himself into the playoffs.

Now, I’m not going to say too much about the nature of this move as I plan to leave that up to my colleagues. All I will say is: you can’t punch the third baseman and catcher on your way to home.

Dillon’s win launched him from 32nd in the points standings to a guaranteed spot of at least 16th, making him the lowest ranked regular season driver to make the playoffs via a win.

In the chaos, Denny Hamlin managed to finish 2nd, coming a corner short of the sweep at Richmond. His two drivers Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace finished directly behind him, Wallace himself now relegated further towards the playoff cutline due to the #3’s win. Wallace currently sits 16th, 3 points above the cutline. The man he’s battling for that final spot, Ross Chastain, finished one spot behind him. Christopher Bell recovered for 6th, and a strong showing put Suárez in 10th.

The cup series continues on next weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Featured Image Credits: NASCAR on X