IMAGE SOURCE : Credit: RICHMOND, VIRGINIA - AUGUST 11: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 11, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
(Richmond, VA) Austin Dillion won his 5th career race & 1st win since 2022 on Sunday in a controversial overtime finish involving Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin at the CookOut400. The NASCAR Cup Series returned Sunday night following the Olympic Break, with only four races left before the playoffs. Austin Dillion's win shook up the playoff standings. Before Sunday's race, Austin was ranked 32nd in the points. With Sunday's victory, Dillion advanced 19 spots to number 13 and clinched a berth in the NASCAR Playoffs.
When asked about Sunday's victory, I spoke with Austin Dillion, and he stated the following :
" Just proud of our guys, the never-quit attitude. Truthfully really proud of our pit crew. They crushed it tonight. We haven’t given them opportunity to have that much pressure on them. I guess they had an average of a 9.7 pit stop. They came to play today. They gave me the opportunity to be where I needed to be on the last lap to make it happen." So yeah, my pit crew did an awesome job. Team did. The car was capable of winning the race. That was our one shot, I feel like, we’ve had all year. We were able to go to Victory Lane."
After passing Denny Hamlin, Dillion was on pace to victory until a caution on Lap 398, where Ricky Stenhouse Jr made contact with Ryan Preece, who spun and forced overtime. In overtime, Logano took the lead, and Dillion made his move in the final corner, where he spun Joey Logano and made contact with Denny Hamlin in turn 4 to take the checkered flag.
Following the Race, Joey Logano, who finished 19th, spoke with reporters and stated:
“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.
Denny Hamlin, who led the race for 124 laps and finished 2nd, also spoke with reporters and stated:
“There are no penalties for rough driving, so it opens up the opportunity for Austin to just do whatever he wants,’’
Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Ross Chastain finished in the Top 5. Here is the complete box score (Source NASCAR Media) :
The Cup Series will resume next week as the drivers head to Michigan International Speedway next Sunday at 2:30 PM.
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