RICHMOND REDEMPTION; DILLON AND RCR RETURN VICTORIOUS

RICHMOND, Va. – Austin Dillon redeemed a controversial victory at Richmond Raceway one year ago, dominating late in the race to send Richard Childress Racing into the 2025 Playoffs.

In 2024, Dillon’s Richmond win was encumbered after aggressive contact with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, stripping him of Playoff eligibility. Dillon returned to the Virginia short-track with the same speed as before, working methodically through the field for his sixth career win.

“Man, that feels good,” Dillon said after 107 leading laps, a new career-high. It marked the first time since the 1998 Daytona 500 that the No. 3 car led over 100 laps in a NASCAR Cup race.

Admittedly, Dillon credited tire conservation as the key to his Richmond success. Dillon said, “When it comes to these places and taking care of your stuff, I’ll go against the best of them.”

Dillon started 11th, finished fourth in both stages and capitalized whilst his competitors made errors. On lap 329, Dillon battled leader Ryan Blaney before taking the lead and quickly pitting.

“I couldn’t believe the race we were having out there with (Blaney),” Dillon said. “We’re just riding there beside each other trying to play like chicken.”

After taking the lead, Richard Boswell called Dillon in for the final pit stop. “(Boswell) made a great call to hit pit road,” Dillon said, “We were able to just gain that little bit of an advantage.”

Alex Bowman charged in the final 70 laps on fresher tires, but struggled in traffic to finish second. Bowman fell to 16th, the final Playoff spot, ahead of the cutoff race at Daytona.

“I certainly think we had the better car,” Bowman said after recording his second runner-up result of the season. “Just broke the tires off too much in lap traffic.”

Bowman said a couple of favors would have helped, but unfortunately didn’t get to Dillon. The Hendrick Motorsports driver said execution next weekend at Daytona is all the team can do.

“Really stressful on a lot of fronts,” Bowman said. “With the way that race normally goes, it’s about a must-win at that point because I think you’re most likely going to have a new winner.”

Blaney lost the lead with 60 to go, but would lead his Penske teammates to finish third through fifth. It was Penske’s best result as a team since 2021 and Blaney’s first top-five at Richmond.

“I thought I was really trying to be disciplined, saving tire,” Blaney said. “I was out there cruising around, all of a sudden I had no right rear tire left.”

23XI Racing brought fast cars, leading a combined 164 laps, but the results will not reflect the speed. Tyler Reddick suffered damage after Daniel Suáez knocked Ty Gibbs into Reddick.

Bubba Wallce eclipsed his career best laps-lead after pacing the field for 123 circuits. Wallace won Stage 2, earning a Playoff point, but lost a tire during a late flag pit cycle to finish 28th.

RFK Racing appeared to carry speed from Iowa, with Ryan Preece on pole and all three cars starting in the top-12. However, Preece lost brakes in Stage 3 and Buescher fell two laps down.

Brad Keselowski finished in ninth, his 16th career top-10 at Richmond, but still sits 19th in points. Now, each of the RFK Fords find themselves outside the Playoffs with one race to go.

Chase Elliott’s night came to an abrupt end on lap 198 after a multi-car accident in turns 3 and 4. Elliott was sent into the wall by Kyle Busch after the wreck, recording his first DNF in 27 races.

“After the wreck was over I thought we were done wrecking,” Elliott said after leaving the infield care center. “I guess Kyle (Busch) just didn’t know I was to the left.”

The crash allowed William Byron to claim the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship. Byron said “It’s really the best 12th-place finish I’ve ever had.”

Now, second through sixth remains tight before Daytona and will be awarded key Playoff points. Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Blaney and Christopher Bell are separated by 23 points.

Daytona International Speedway will conclude the regular season with the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Tune into the race live on NBC and streamed on Peacock at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday August 23.