For all intents and purposes it has been a year since NASCAR was at Richmond Raceway. It was a tumble of a win for Austin Dillon in 2024 as a final lap run ruffled some others. Dillon charged up with an outside bump on Joey Logano and a down turn tap on Denny Hamlin which sent the #22 and the #11 into the wall and the #3 across the checkers.
NASCAR gave him the win but did not allow the win to count for a playoff slot due to the aggressive nature of the turn 3 and 4 charge.
Let the calendar year turn and 2025 has the #3 in position to win again. This time, however, Dillon is well out in front with clean air except for the passing of lap cars. The final 49 laps were all in for the Winchester / Bass Pro Shops Chevy to the win.
This one did put Dillon into a playoff slot. He had been running in the top five with a 4th spot in both stage 1 and stage 2.
Pole sitter Ryan Preece fell out after a good starting lead but pit strategy left him out on old tires too long which cost him a large margin. He managed to pull the Kroger #60 back up to a top ten at stage 2 but could not hold it to the end.
Bubba Wallace gave a good showing early on with an up front run. Ryan Blaney took a shot at it a few times in the late race but it was the #3 of Austin Dillon that took the night.
There is one more regular season race at Daytona before the playoff round of 16 begin at Darlington.
Photo Gallery – Saturday / Sunday – Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway
