Austin Dillon Wins Richmond with Last Lap Bump and Run

RICHMOND, VA – RIS - Austin Dillon turned Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in a chaotic short-track overtime Sunday night, claiming the Cook Out 400 in the NASCAR Cup Series' return to action in Richmond, Virginia.

After losing the lead to Logano to start the two-lap shootout, Dillon hit Logano in Turn 4 at Richmond Raceway coming to the checkered flag, spinning the No. 22 Ford. As Hamlin appeared poised to then pass Dillon and grab the win, Dillon clipped the rear of Hamlin's No. 11 and sent the Toyota into the wall.

The Richard Childress Racing driver then used the No. 3 to hold off Tyler Reddick by 0.117 seconds for his first victory since Aug. 28, 2022 - a 68-race winless stretch - and fifth overall of his career.

Dillon’s win places him in the playoffs for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Championship later this year.

Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Hamlin rounded out the top five in the wild finish.

The 70-lap Stage 1 to open the race was a Joe Gibbs Racing affair right away. Polesitter Hamlin paced the first 46 laps until Christopher Bell motored past him on the frontstretch's high side. They stayed that way until the greenflag, with Martin Truex Jr. completing the stable's 1-2-3 finish.

The tire situation led to many changes. Teams had a choice of two tire compounds. The regular tire was the one normally used at Richmond and a softer tire was allowed to be used by the competitors,  The softer tires wore out faster, but had more speed.

Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell chose to put on the softer option tires, and the decision was beneficial. Suarez's No. 99 Chevrolet roared to the lead on Lap 93, while McDowell sped from 28th to seventh in a major move.

By the halfway point, Suarez held a lead of over one second over Bell's No. 20 and managed to maintain it until he won his first stage since 2022 and fourth of his career at Lap 230 over the Toyota driver.

Almost the entire field took the grippier, shorter-life tire, but Truex, who claimed eight stage points in the event, experienced engine failure on his No. 19 Toyota on Lap 250 and soon retired in last.

After leading 115 laps, Bell's hopes to win were damaged when he was tagged for speeding on pit road with less than 120 circuits remaining. He finished the race in sixth.

Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott and Suarez rounded out the top 10.

Logano was livid after the race.

  “I don’t know.  Apparently, it’s OK.  What do you want me to say?  Apparently, he can come from five car lengths back and completely wreck someone and then wreck another one to the line and we’re gonna call that racing.”

SHOULD NASCAR TAKE THAT AWAY?  “Yeah.  They won’t.”

"Obviously he didn't make the turn because he hit me and the [Denny Hamlin] was going to win the race," Logano said. "...I've beaten him fair and square in the restart and he just pulls a chicken s--t move. He's a piece of crap. He sucks. He's sucked his whole career. And now he's going to be in the playoff. Good for him, I guess."

"I don't know man, it's been two years and this is the first car I've had a shot to win," Dillon said . "I felt like with two to go, we were the fastest car ... I hate to do that but sometimes you just got to have it. I have to thank the good Lord above. It's been tough over the last two years, man. I care about [Richard Childress Racing], my wife, and this is my first ... it means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it."

Dillon's team even encouraged him to take the drastic lengths to achieve the win, according to reports.. The 34-year-old driver is the grandson of Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing.

The NASCAR Cup Series now heads to Michigan International Speedway on August 18th.

Unofficial Results: Cook Out 400, August 11, 2024 - Richmond Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 6, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 408, 7, 5, 4, 35, 5, 50, Running
2) 1, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota, 408, 2, 3, 7, 124, , 52, Running
3) 10, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota, 408, 9, 7, 1, 8, , 40, Running
4) 8, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Leidos Toyota, 408, 5, 8, , , , 42, Running
5) 22, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet, 408, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 5, Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Carpentry Solutions Toyota, 408, 1, 2, 5, 122, 1, 50, Running
7) 15, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 408, , , 1, 17, , 30, Running
8) 19, Carson Hocevar #, No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, 408, , 9, 1, 2, , 31, Running
9) 4, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet, 408, 6, 10, 3, 5, , 34, Running
10) 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet, 408, , 1, 4, 93, 1, 37, Running
11) 11, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 BodyArmor Sport Water Ford, 408, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 12, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Cheddar's Patriotic Chevrolet, 408, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 13, William Byron, No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet, 408, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 3, Josh Berry #, No. 4 P&G Supports Our Military Ford, 408, 10, , , , , 24, Running
15) 28, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 408, , 6, , , , 27, Running
16) 29, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 408, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 23, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 The Pete Store Ford, 408, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 7, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 408, 8, , , , , 22, Running
19) 9, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 408, 4, 4, 1, 2, , 32, Running
20) 16, Noah Gragson, No. 10 Overstock.com Ford, 407, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 25, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Rinnai Ford, 407, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 14, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota, 407, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 20, Zane Smith #, No. 71 Focused Health Chevrolet, 407, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 18, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Libman Ford, 407, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 26, Ryan Preece, No. 41 Mohawk Northeast Ford, 407, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 30, Ty Dillon(i), No. 16 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 407, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 36, Justin Haley, No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford, 406, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 17, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 406, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 27, Erik Jones, No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota, 406, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 32, Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet, 406, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 35, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 405, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 31, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 405, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 34, Riley Herbst(i), No. 15 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford, 405, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 24, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Advisor Advantage/Clear Spring Chevrolet, 404, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 37, * Parker Retzlaff(i), No. 66 XInsurance Ford, 402, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 33, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/General Mills Box Tops Chevrolet, 397, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 250, 3, , , , , 9, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 408 Laps, 306. Miles
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 3 Mins, 19 Secs.
Average Speed: 100.155 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 20, 11, 19, 22, 23, 9, 3, 17, 45, 4
Stage 2 Top 10: 99, 20, 11, 22, 3, 34, 45, 23, 77, 9

Comments: Austin Dillon won the 67th running of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, his fifth victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Cautions: 4 for 26 laps;
Laps: 72-80 (Stage 1 Conclusion [34]);
232-240 (Stage 2 Conclusion [4]);
400-406 (#41, 47 incident turn 2 [8]);
408-408 ( [None]).

Lead Changes: 26 among 9 drivers;
D. Hamlin 1-45;
C. Bell 46-80;
D. Hamlin 81-83;
C. Bell 84;
D. Hamlin 85-92;
D. Suarez 93-121;
D. Hamlin 122-123;
C. Elliott 124-126;
K. Larson 127-143;
C. Bell 144-176;
C. Elliott 177;
T. Reddick 178-185;
D. Suarez 186-235;
C. Bell 236-281;
C. Elliott 282;
D. Suarez 283-292;
D. Hamlin 293-332;
A. Dillon 333;
C. Hocevar # 334-335;
C. Bell 336-342;
D. Suarez 343-346;
D. Hamlin 347-371;
A. Dillon 372-400;
D. Hamlin 401;
A. Dillon 402-405;
J. Logano 406-407;
A. Dillon 408.