Practice #1 : Richmond Raceway

• Wednesday, August 7th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

NASCAR returns to Richmond with tire strategies on the mind

After a two-week summer break the NASCAR Cup Series resumes its schedule in Sunday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (6 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the last short track race of the regular season on the famed three-quarter miler.

Only four races remain to set the 16-driver Playoff field. Seven drivers have already secured their position in the Playoffs and five others have a race win needing only to collect more points to officially become part of the Playoff-bound. Multi-race winners Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Christopher Bell are in.

Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric have all won a race and are collecting points at this point to formally clinch their championship shot. That leaves five positions to be settled in the final four races of the regular season with former series champ Martin Truex Jr. (+108 points) and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (+42) in solid positions in the standings.

Chris Buescher (+17) and Ross Chastain (+7) are holding down the final two positions in the current top-16 with Bubba Wallace (-7) and Chase Briscoe (-83) next closest.

The Hendrick Motorsports teammates Larson and Elliott along with 23XI Racing’s Reddick are still in a dramatic battle for the all-important regular season championship and the 15-point Playoff bonus that goes with that. Larson leads Elliott by 10 points and Reddick is only 15 points off Larson’s bumper.

Should either Larson or Elliott win that title they would join Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch as the only two-time Regular Season Champions since the format went into place.

The entire starting field will have a new dynamic to strategize with this weekend as NASCAR is introducing two tire compounds to be used at the teams’ discretion during the 400-lapper. It’s being hailed as another opportunity to build off the same two-tire option in the NASCAR All-Star Race at another short track, North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway in May and also to provide another competitive element to the race with so much on the line heading into the Playoffs.

Teams will have six sets of “prime tires” and two sets of “option tires” for use during the race. Goodyear’s “prime” tires are a harder rubber compound with typically less grip but will last longer. The new “option” tire has a softer rubber compound offering more grip and speed but will not last as long.

There have been nine different winners in the last nine Richmond races with RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher the defending summer race winner – claiming the trophy at Richmond then winning two of the next four final races (at Michigan and at Daytona Beach) to close out the regular season.

Buescher would love to use Richmond as a Playoff spring board again this year for his No. 17 RFK Ford team. Although he was runner-up in the closest finish in NASCAR history at Kansas earlier this year, he is still racing for his first trophy of 2024.

“Last year, we had been inching towards that kind of success and finally just fired on all eight when we got to Richmond,” said Buescher this week.

“We executed that day extremely well from race strategy to on track decisions to restarts, pit road. We finally put it all together and I think that was a big confidence booster for our team as we headed into the next few.”

Buescher noted that for much of his career he did not like the Virginia short track but recently has changed his view.

“It was a fun racetrack, but just hadn’t been able to truly figure it out until the last couple of years,” Buescher conceded. “Honestly, from where I’m at we have worked hard at it. There’s been a couple things on my side that have helped.

“[Team co-owner] Brad [Keselowski] has been a big part of that. Brad runs very well there and has been able to give me a handful of pointers that have led me down a better path, and our team has stepped up in a massive way and brought some very fast race cars that ultimately just make me look better.

“When we bring those race cars to the track and we’re that competitive off the truck it makes my job a lot easier when I know that we’re in the ballpark.”

Hamlin won at Richmond in March. Kyle Busch (2018) and Truex (2019) are the last drivers to sweep a season and win back-to-back races at the three-quarter miler. Should Hamlin win Sunday night he would tie Busch for most wins (six) at the track among active drivers.

Joe Gibbs Racing team has won five of the seven short track races this season with Hamlin winning three times (at Richmond, Bristol, Tenn. and Dover, Del.) and Bell twice (at Phoenix and New Hampshire). Hendrick’s Byron won at Martinsville, Va. and reigning series champion, Team Penske’s Blaney won at Iowa.

Busch, who currently boasts the highest Richmond trophy haul in the field, is still racing for his first victory of the season to maintain a remarkable winning streak that’s currently at a series high 19 years. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champ is ranked 19th, 112-points behind Chastain in that last Playoff position.

An extended 45-minute practice is slated for Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 5:35 p.m. ET. Both sessions will be broadcast on USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

• Cook Out 400
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
• Age: 43
• Team : No 11 - FedEx Rewards Toyota
• Owner: Joe Gibbs
• Crew Chief: Christopher Gabehart
• Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for the Cook Out 400 with a lap of 2285 seconds, 118162 mph
• This is his 43rd pole in 673 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his third pole and 12th top-10 start in 2024
• This is his fourth pole in 36 races at Richmond Raceway
• Martin Truex Jr (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2024 and his 23rd in 37 races at Richmond Raceway
• Josh Berry (third) posted his first top-10 start at Richmond Raceway It is his seventh in 23 races this season
• Josh Berry (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Sunday, August 11th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Austin Dillon Wins Overtime Thriller at Richmond Raceway

It took a controversial full-contact finish but Austin Dillon claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series victory in two seasons in Sunday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway – vaulting from a 32nd place in the points standings before the race to an automatic Playoff berth with the win.

Coming to the checkered flag during the final lap of overtime, Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy hit the rear bumper of the race-leading No. 22 Team Penske driven by Joey Logano crashing Logano’s car into the catchfence. Then Dillon immediately moved low on track and hit Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as he was driving by. It allowed Dillon to take the checkered flag only a few feet ahead and claim the all-important win by a slight .116-second.

As Logano and Hamlin drove their dented, smoking cars to pit lane, the 34-year-old North Carolinian Dillon did victory doughnuts and spoke about the win and the move he used to gain it. He reminded reporters later that this was short track-style racing and that he’s seen both Logano and Hamlin make similarly aggressive moves to win a trophy.

“I don’t know man, it’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had a shot to win with,’’ Dillon said when asked if he thought it was a fair move for the win.

“I felt like with two to go, we were the fastest car. Obviously we had to have a straightaway. Wrecked the guy. I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to do 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 [win] for my baby girl. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it.’’

“When given that shot, you’ve got to take it,’’ Dillon added.

It’s Dillon’s first win in the last 68 races and fifth of his career. His last trophy came in the final regular season race of 2022 at Daytona International Speedway which earned a last chance position in that Playoff run. He was ranked 32nd in points coming into this Richmond race – 258 points behind the Playoff cutoff line – and now he becomes the 13th driver to win his way into championship contention.

Noted his grandfather, team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richard Childress, “He knew what he had to do and they (Logano and Hamlin) would have done it to him.’’

After speaking briefly with reporters alongside his car on pit road, an angry Logano went immediately to the NASCAR officials team hauler.

“It was chicken &*#! – there’s no doubt about it,’’ the two-time series champion Logano said of Dillon’s move. “He was four car-lengths back, not even close. Then he wrecks the 11 [Hamlin] to go along with it.

“I mean I get it, bump and run,’’ Logano continued, “I’ve done that, but he just drove through me, it’s ridiculous.’’

Logano’s crew chief Paul Wolfe was frustrated as well.

“It’s just a joke to call that racing. … something like that, that’s not racing,’’ Wolfe said. “We all put too much in this … that’s not professional what happened tonight.’’

Hamlin, who led the most laps (124) on the night, was equally as frustrated.

“There are no penalties for rough driving so it opens up the opportunity for Austin to just do whatever he wants,’’ said Hamlin, who was scored second.

“I got hooked in the right rear again. I was just minding my own business and he hooked me in the right rear and put me in the fence. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened, He’s going to be credited with a win but obviously he’s not going to go far [in the Playoffs] because you got to pay your dues back on stuff like that.

“But it was worth it because he jumped 20 positions in points, I understand that and there’s no ill will there, but I just hate that I was a part of it. … I understand it but I don’t agree with it.’’

Finishing just behind Hamlin were 23XI Racing teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain was fifth. These positions were important with only three races remaining now to set the 16-driver Playoff field.

Playoff eligibility changed throughout the race – sometimes dramatically so.

Wallace’s top-five run was enough to move him from a seven-point deficit outside the Playoff 16 to just inside the top 16. He has a three-point advantage in that final Playoff position now over both Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher, who finished 18th Sunday night, and Chastain.

Martin Truex Jr. who led the championship standings for much of the early season and held a 102-point advantage inside the standings at the Richmond green flag, took a big hit in the points. His No. 19 JGR Toyota had to retire early with engine problems taking a last place finish in Sunday’s 37-car field and now the 2017 series champion holds only a 78-point advantage above the Playoff cutoff – ranked 14th still the highest ranked driver without a win.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs is 15th with a 19-point cushion above the cutoff line, followed by Wallace, Buescher and Chastain.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell, who led 122 laps and won Stage 1 – a series best 10th stage win – finished sixth, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suárez rounding out the Richmond top 10.

Larson continues to lead the standings – now with a five-point advantage over Reddick and a six-point lead on his teammate Elliott. Hamlin is fourth, only 21 points back.

Not only was the race noteworthy for its dramatic ending and the shake up in the points standings, it was a test run of the new option tire that allowed teams to have a choice of Goodyear rubber in-race. It certainly created a new element of strategy and suspense.

Suárez who tried the new tires early, for example, made up 15 points and took the lead immediately after his pit stop to change them.

“The Option tire worked exactly as it was intended,’’ said Goodyear’s Director of Racing Greg Stucker. “They fired off immediately and were more than a half-second faster than the Prime, which is big on a short track. Also, the Options gave up significantly more than the Primes over a long run, as intended.

“What was really exciting was how different teams used the Option tire at different times to accomplish their own goals,’’ he added.

With all the storylines, dramatic finish, and important new tire element, Reddick offered the understatement of the evening, “Wild way to end the night.’’

• Drivers Entered: 37
• Laps Scheduled: 400
• Laps Actual: 408 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
• Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds
• Time of Race: 3 Hours 3 Minutes 19 Seconds
• Average Speed: 100.155
• Cautions: 4 for 26 laps
• Lead Changes: 26
• Green Flag Passes: 4,076 (10.7 passes per green flag lap)

• Cook Out 400
• Race Winner: Austin Dillon
• Age: 34
• Team : No 3 - Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
• Owner: Richard Childress
• Crew Chief: Justin Alexander
• Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400, his fifth victory in 395 Cup Series races
• This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 21 races at Richmond Raceway
• Denny Hamlin (second) posted his 24th top-10 finish in 36 races at Richmond Raceway It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2024
• Tyler Reddick (third) posted his second top-10 finish in nine races at Richmond Raceway
• Carson Hocevar (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie