NASCAR Cup Richmond: Austin Dillon wrecks his way into the playoffs

Dillon, who had a fast car all weekend, worked his way around Denny Hamlin for the lead late in the race and appeared headed to victory when a wreck with less than two of 400 laps remaining sent the race into overtime.

All of the lead-lap cars elected to pit and Dillon was first off pit road followed by Joey Logano and Hamlin. Logano got a good jump on Dillon on the restart and grabbed the lead.

On the final lap entering Turn 3, Dillon deep into the corner and into the back of Logano and knocked him out of the way. Hamlin then pulled alongside Dillon but got turned into the wall himself.

Dillon took the checkered flag for his first win in nearly two years in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. RCR’s last win at Richmond came in 2013 with driver Kevin Harvick.

Onboard video showing how @austindillon3 won tonight’s #NASCAR Cup race at @RichmondRaceway 🫣

🎥 @NASCAR pic.twitter.com/S74J0WNPqL

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) August 12, 2024

The win is the fifth of Dillon’s career and his victory was his first top five finish of the 2024 season.

Asked if his moves on the final lap were fair, Dillon said, "I don't know, man. It's been two years. This is the first car I've had with a shot to win. I felt like with two to go, we were the fastest car. Obviously had to have a straightaway. Wrecked the guy. I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it.

"I got to thank the good Lord above. It's been tough for the last two years, man. I care about RCR, these fans, my wife. This is my first for my baby girl. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it."

Asked what he was willing to do to get the win, Dillon said, "Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.

"We just never give up.  I can't thank all the people enough that helped this team. Yeah, just got to get it done sometimes."

Two top contenders for Sunday night’s win were taken out of contention before the finish.

Christopher Bell, who had one of the fastest cars all night and led 122 laps, took himself out of contention when he was caught speeding during a round of green flag pit stops early in the final stage.

Bell’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. – who led the most laps in the spring race – was knocked out of the race after 250 laps with a blown engine.

Stage 1

Bell ran down and passed Hamlin for the lead with 25 laps remaining and cruised to the Stage 1 win by 1.619 seconds. Truex was third, Logano fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five. At one point teammates Hamlin and Truex made contact battling for the second position.

Stage 2

Daniel Suarez held off Bell by 0.769 seconds to take the Stage 2 win. Hamlin was third, Logano fourth and Dillon ended up fifth.

During the break between Stages 1 and 2, Suarez was one of only two drivers to take on option tires and made good use of them, going from 17th to the lead at one point. The call put him into the hunt for the win.

.@Daniel_SuarezG was making those option tires 🛞 work during the second stage at @RichmondRaceway! #NASCAR

@NASCAR pic.twitter.com/luT5H8xMbO

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) August 11, 2024

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all of the lead lap cars elected to pit with Bell barely edging Suarez off pit road. Most of the field took the option tire but Suarez remained on the regular tires. When the race resumed with 160 laps remaining, Bell led Suarez and Hamlin.

With 149 laps to go, Truex was forced to pit under green for a potential engine issue. His team eventually pushed his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the garage.

“I don’t know, just one of them days,” Truex in the garage. “Just a shame. My last start at this track, would’ve been nice to get another win.”

With 123 laps to go, several drivers – including Larson – hit pit road to kick off a round of green flag stops for new tires and fuel.

Alex Bowman and Bell were both penalized for speeding during their respective stops and had to serve pass-through penalties.

Once the cycle of stops was completed, Hamlin moved into the lead with about a half-second advantage over Logano.

With 75 laps remaining, Hamlin remained out front, but Dillon got around Logano to move into second and was the fastest car on the track.

Hamlin was among the first to hit pit road with 68 laps to go to kick off the final round of green flag stops to take on new tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race.

Once the cycle of stops was completed with 54 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to hold a small advantage over Dillon with Logano close behind in third.

Dillon got to the rear of Hamlin’s car with 30 laps to go and began hounding him for the lead. He finally completed the pass two laps later.

With less than two laps to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece wrecked entering Turn 1 to bring out a caution and send the race into a two-lap overtime.

 

CLA	DRIVER	#		MANUFACTURER	LAPS	TIME	INTERVAL	PITS	POINTS
1	A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING	3		Chevrolet	408	3:03'18.953		9	50
2	D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING	11		Toyota	408	+0.116 3:03'19.069	0.116	10	52
3	T. Reddick23XI RACING	45		Toyota	408	+0.117 3:03'19.070	0.001	9	40
4	B. Wallace23XI RACING	23		Toyota	408	+0.278 3:03'19.231	0.161	10	42
5	R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING	1		Chevrolet	408	+0.541 3:03'19.494	0.263	10	32
6	C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING	20		Toyota	408	+0.667 3:03'19.620	0.126	11	50
7	K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	5		Chevrolet	408	+0.872 3:03'19.825	0.205	9	30
8	C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	77		Chevrolet	408	+0.902 3:03'19.855	0.030	10	31
9	C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	9		Chevrolet	408	+1.273 3:03'20.226	0.371	10	34
10	D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING	99		Chevrolet	408	+1.410 3:03'20.363	0.137	10	37
11	R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE	12		Ford	408	+1.489 3:03'20.442	0.079	10	26
12	K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING	8		Chevrolet	408	+1.661 3:03'20.614	0.172	10	25
13	W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	24		Chevrolet	408	+1.857 3:03'20.810	0.196	10	24
14	J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING	4		Ford	408	+1.956 3:03'20.909	0.099	10	24
15	M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS	34		Ford	408	+2.240 3:03'21.193	0.284	11	27
16	B. KeselowskiRFK RACING	6		Ford	408	+8.024 3:03'26.977	5.784	8	21
17	T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS	38		Ford	408	+8.025 3:03'26.978	0.001	9	20
18	C. BuescherRFK RACING	17		Ford	408	+9.491 3:03'28.444	1.466	9	22
19	J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE	22		Ford	408	+19.798 3:03'38.751	10.307	10	32
20	N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING	10		Ford	407	+1 Lap 3:03'23.464	1 Lap	9	17
21	C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING	14		Ford	407	+1 Lap 3:03'25.110	1.646	8	16
22	T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING	54		Toyota	407	+1 Lap 3:03'25.111	0.001	9	15
23	Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	71		Chevrolet	407	+1 Lap 3:03'25.589	0.478	9	14
24	A. CindricTEAM PENSKE	2		Ford	407	+1 Lap 3:03'25.908	0.319	9	13
25	R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING	41		Ford	407	+1 Lap 3:03'26.133	0.225	9	12
26	T. DillonKAULIG RACING	16		Chevrolet	407	+1 Lap 3:03'29.420	3.287	8
27	J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING	51		Ford	406	+2 Laps 3:03'23.265	1 Lap	9	10
28	A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	48		Chevrolet	406	+2 Laps 3:03'24.806	1.541	10	9
29	E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB	43		Toyota	406	+2 Laps 3:03'26.843	2.037	9	8
30	D. HemricKAULIG RACING	31		Chevrolet	406	+2 Laps 3:03'27.647	0.804	9	7
31	J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB	42		Toyota	405	+3 Laps 3:03'24.842	1 Lap	8	6
32	H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING	21		Ford	405	+3 Laps 3:03'26.262	1.420	9	5
33	R. HerbstRICK WARE RACING	15		Ford	405	+3 Laps 3:03'28.774	2.512	10
34	C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS	7		Chevrolet	404	+4 Laps 3:03'25.735	1 Lap	10	3
35	P. RetzlaffMBM	66		Ford	402	+6 Laps 3:03'30.821	2 Laps	8
36	R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING	47		Chevrolet	397	+11 Laps 2:54'52.031	5 Laps	7	1
37	M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING	19		Toyota	250	+158 Laps 1:53'39.233	147 Laps	7	9