RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — In a shocking ending reminiscent of the second-to-last lap caution flag in the spring, Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400 NASCAR race at Richmond Raceway.
With an overtime restart, it looked like Joey Logano was going to take the win when Dillon made contact with him, causing him to spin on the third turn. From there, Dillon then pushed Denny Hamlin into the wall on the last turn before claiming victory.
“The record book won’t care about what happened, he’s going to be credited with the win,” Hamlin said about Dillon’s rough driving. “But, obviously, he’s not going to go far because you gotta pay your dues back on that stuff.”
Logano was less diplomatic, saying, “It’s a bunch of BS. Not even freaking close. Bump-and-run, I get it, but he got in there and just drove through me. It’s ridiculous.”
The introduction of two Goodyear tire choices also allowed certain teams to take advantage of new strategies. Particularly in the case of Daniel Suarez, who managed to use option tires to go from the deep midfield to the lead of the race, winning the second stage.
Starting grid
Hamlin, a local hero from Chesterfield County, started the race in pole position following a surprising qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Martin Truex Jr. joined Hamlin at the front of the grid with Josh Berry and Chase Elliott close behind, starting from 3rd and 4th.
At the green flag, all drivers had opted to start with prime tires, saving their option tires for later in the race.
Stage 1
Soon after the green flag, Christopher Bell made his way up to 3rd place from the 5th starting position.
On lap 35, Bell overtook Truex, moving up to second place. Ten laps later, Bell continued his ambitions by passing Hamlin and taking the lead.
At lap 70 and the completion of the stage, Bell took the win, followed by Hamlin in 2nd and Truex in 3rd.
Stage 2
There were no major shakeups for the top positions after the pit stop on lap 75. However, Bell took some damage to the front of his car after making contact with Erik Jones. The top 10 cars in the field all took prime tires.
At the restart on lap 81, Bell and Hamlin are neck and neck for the lead. Hamlin wins the battle and takes the lead on lap 83.
By lap 90, Daniel Suarez — after switching to the option tires during the pit stop — had moved up into 2nd place after beginning the stage in 16th. Three laps later he had taken the lead of the race.
Bell overtook Hamlin to regain 2nd place around the century lap.
Over the coming laps, Suarez maintained a lead of about 3 seconds as he worked to conserve his tires.
On lap 120, several lead cars made their way to the pit road, causing a chain reaction. Suarez pitted from the lead shortly after but found himself behind Bell and narrowly ahead of Truex as he exited the pit road.
At lap 140, Kyle Larson — one of the few drivers who did not pit — held the lead as Bell, Suarez and Truex rapidly made their way up the field.
By lap 150, Larson had pitted and those who had been the leaders previous to the pit stop had regained their positions. Bell was in 1st, Suarez was in 2nd, Truex was in 3rd and Hamlin was in 4th.
At lap 170, Truex went to pit for primes. Unfortunately, the stop was slowed by issues with the rear left tire change.
Suarez and Hamlin followed Truex into the pits over the next couple of laps. Bell waited until lap 176 to pit. Bell came out of the pit lane behind Suarez.
At lap 186, Suarez took back the lead of the race. On lap 190, Bell takes 2nd position after getting held up by traffic.
While Bell managed to close much of the gap on Suarez by lap 225, he was unable to make it through traffic — even bumping into Kyle Busch in 18th place.
Suarez won the stage with Bell in 2nd and Hamlin in 3rd.
Stage 3
Bell started the stage off by taking the lead during the pit stop. Suarez was in 2nd with Hamlin holding 3rd.
At the restart on lap 240, Bell held his lead followed closely by Hamlin in 2nd and Logan in 3rd. Suarez falls back into the midfield.
On lap 245, Logano edges past Hamlin into 2nd.
At lap 249, Truex reported an engine failure and brought his car into the pits. The car was retired shortly after.
Multiple cars — including Hamlin and Logano — made a rush for the pits at lap 280. While Bell was quick to respond, he was penalized for speeding and left the pit lane nearly a full lap behind Hamlin.
Hamlin retook the lead on lap 292 with Logano in 2nd and Tyler Reddick in 3rd.
Over the course of the coming laps, Dillon made his way from 4th to 2nd, eventually challenging Hamlin for the top spot on lap 330. Hamlin successfully held Dillon off before making a pit stop at lap 332.
On lap 347, Hamlin and Dillon battled for 1st as they ran into the back of lapped traffic.
At lap 372, Dillon finally managed to break through Hamlin’s defense and successfully passed him for the lead.
At lap 398, Ricky Stenhouse and Ryan Preece made contact, causing a spinout and a caution flag to be issued.
During the pit stop, Logano took 2nd place from Hamlin. Dillon still holds the lead with Reddick in 4th.
At the overtime restart, Logano took the lead from Dillon and looked like he was going to win the race. However, on turn 3, Dillon turned into Logano, causing him to spin and wreck. Hamlin took advantage and took the lead but was then pushed into the wall on the last corner by Dillon, allowing him to claim victory.
“I’ve seen both Denny and Joey make moves … running people off the track to win,” Dillon said. “It’s just part of our sport, you know what I mean?”
Despite crossing the line further back, Hamlin was awarded 2nd place with Reddick taking 3rd.
With this win, Dillon goes from being 32nd in points to making it into the playoffs.
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