Austin Dillon gets into NASCAR Cup playoffs with another Richmond win

RICHMOND, Va. — Austin Dillon scored yet another surprise win at Richmond Raceway and this time it will get him into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with no questions.

A year after he bulldozed through Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin for a win in overtime at Richmond that locked him into the playoffs for a couple of days, Dillon led the 49 laps and won by 2.471 seconds over Alex Bowman to clearly secure a playoff berth.

“Man, that feels good,” Dillon said to USA. “I really wanted that one. Last year hurt really bad and this one feels so sweet. I love Richmond… Every one of these means so much. Thank you to my grandfather, it could’ve been so easy for him to change drivers but he believed in me and didn’t.”

Dillon now has six wins in his NASCAR Cup Series career. He has won once in a year in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024 and now 2025. He will race in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

On the other end, Alex Bowman finished second and goes to Daytona on the cutline:

• 15. Tyler Reddick 714 points (+89 points to the cutline)
• 16. Alex Bowman 685 (+60)
• 17. Chris Buescher 625 (-60)
• 18. Ryan Preece 591 (-94)

If there is a repeat winner or either he or Reddick wins, Bowman and Reddick are safe. If there is a new winner and it isn’t him or Reddick, he will need to make up 30 points on Reddick.

Reddick can clinch a playoff spot with a finish of 10th or better.

Top-10: Dillon, Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin.

Dillon revealed after the race he has been racing with a broken rib for the last two weeks. The race came down to grit — and tire management, with drivers pitting basically every 50 laps for new sets of tires.

While Dillon struggled early on, he outclassed drivers like Ryan Blaney who he passed with ease in the closing laps and outran for the win. In all, he led 107 laps on the night — the first time he has led triple-digit laps in his career and the first time for the No. 3 car since Dale Earnhardt in the 1998 Daytona 500.

“Tire management. I’m probably the slowest to get going… but on the long run, I’ll go up against the best of them,” Dillon said.

Here is an archive of the live race updates from Saturday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond:

FINAL STAGE

Austin Dillon gets yet another walkoff win at Richmond — and this time it will get him into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs!

Top-10: Dillon, Bowman, Blaney, Logano, Cindric, Larson, Suarez, Berry, Keselowski, Hamlin. #NASCAR

Bowman takes second from Blaney. He was about a second faster, 15 to go. 3.9 seconds back of Austin Dillon.

20 TO GO: Bowman was making good time on Dillon but had a mistake that dropped him back half-a-second in one lap.

William Byron can clinch the regular season championship with a finish of 19th or better. Byron runs 13th with 26 laps to go.

TOP-10 (29 to go): A. Dillon, Blaney, Bowman, Suarez, Cindric, Logano, Hamlin, Berry, Larson, Zane Smith.

STAT: Austin Dillon has eclipsed 100 laps led at Richmond. This is the track where he has led the most laps in his career… 91 coming into tonight.

Carson Hocevar pits with 61 laps to go.

TOP-10 (LAP 357): ADillon, Blaney, Hocevar, Bowman, Suarez, Hamlin, Logano, Cindric, Berry, Briscoe.

Austin Dillon to the lead, lap 352. Carson Hocevar is third on the three-stop strategy. Blaney has gained a second on Dillon.

Ryan Blaney pits on lap 346… This will start the cycle. He did that five laps after Austin Dillon. The five-lap difference meant 7.2 seconds gained for Dillon on Blaney.

Austin Dillon finally takes it after 10 laps of side-by-side racing with Ryan Blaney. Now he pits, lap 341!

Austin Dillon for the lead, 71 to go/lap 330.

Lap 320: Carson Hocevar pits on the three-stop strategy. He had dropped back to ninth from the lead. Right-rear tire change was slower.

TOP-10 (LAP 302): Carson Hocevar, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin. Blaney to the lead.

Lap 297: Christopher Bell busted for speeding. Per @HBLoomis, this is the third straight Richmond NASCAR Cup Series race he has been busted for speeding in. Teammate TY Gibbs has “no brake pedal”.

Lap 293: Bubba Wallace has a tire come loose on pit road! Chase Briscoe ‘s team puts a tire on for them, great assistance. Remember, that was first seen at Las Vegas in March by Christopher Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing, with Briscoe’s team assisting.

Lap 287, 113 laps to go: More pit stops… Everyone who pits from here on out is on the two-stop strategy considering it has been 54 laps since the last stops. Divide the final laps up… and it’s around 56-57 laps.

Hocevar pits, lap 279. That’s 46 laps after his stop and with 121 to go. At least two more stops coming for him.

Lap 270 shows a cool top-10: Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Joey Logano. Suarez takes fifth from Hocevar. Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Cindric race side-by-side for 12th.

Lap 265: Ty Gibbs is up to ninth after being two laps down. Gibbs had a speeding penalty earlier in the race that put him there. Then, he gained a lap by staying out and catching a caution on lap 182 and gained the second lap by taking the free pass under caution on lap 199.

Lap 258: Michael McDowell is now 21st after restarting in the lead with two fresh tires on lap 240. Before the call, he was in 17th.

STAT: Tonight’s race at Richmond marks the first time 23XI Racing swept the stages in a NASCAR Cup Series race with multiple cars. Tyler Reddick won Stage One and Bubba Wallace won Stage Two.

Lap 242: Austin Dillon to the lead ahead of Bubba Wallace. Alex Bowman to third as Michael McDowell is struggling on old tires.

Christopher Bell will restart further back in the pack after crew chief Adam Stevens noticed they didn’t get a tire fully tightened. Bell is now 25th after being in the top-10.

Top-10, lap 239: Michael McDowell (two tires), Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric. William Byron and Joey Logano are 11th and 12th.

The final stage is 170 laps and ends with the checkered flag on lap 400.

STAGE TWO Winner: Bubba Wallace

STAGE TWO TOP-10 (LAP 230): Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Kyle Larson.

Lap 222: Carson Hocevar has the freshest tires, pitted on lap 193. He is up to eighth.

Lap 215: Ryan Preece to fifth! He made a beautiful three-wide move on the restart — again.

Lap 212: Green flag again! The field spent 12 laps under caution. Almost no one pitted with only two or three sets of tires left for the rest of the race.

So after all that, here’s the top 10: Wallace, Suarez, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Logano, Preece, Cindric, Bowman, Bell, Larson… 203 laps down, 197 to go.

Lap 199: Chase Elliott is JUNKED, as is Justin Haley. That was a classic Richmond big one after Chase Briscoe got spun going into turn three.

Lap 192: Cody Ware wrecks back in the pack while everyone was racing intensely up front. Top 10 is Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece. Chase Elliott pits, Shane van Gisbergen free pass.

Lap 182: Tyler Reddick gets spun after Daniel Suarez bumped Ty Gibbs into him. Gibbs was off the lead lap and Suarez was on the lead lap.

Lap 175: Pit stops start again!

Lap 170: Austin Cindric to fourth. Top 10 is Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin and William Byron.

Denny Hamlin has re-entered the top-10, lap 165. He restarted 36th on lap 80.

Lap 164: Bubba Wallace takes the lead from Tyler Reddick.

Preece pits, lap 152. Logano to third, Austin Dillon is falling off as the tires wear… back to fifth behind Blaney.

Lap 142: Bubba Wallace has SIX lap fresher tires and is tearing through the top-10. He is up to second now.

Lap 139: Tyler Reddick takes the lead from Austin Dillon.

Lap 138: Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell and Alex Bowman cycle to be the top-10. Cindric takes 10th from Bowman.

Lap 131: Kyle Busch speeding on pit road. Not good for his playoff hopes. He had a fast car in practice too.

Lap 130: Bubba Wallace pits from the lead. That was 57 laps on tires.

Lap 121: Michael McDowell and Chris Buescher pit to start the first green-flag pit stop cycle of the second stage.

Lap 120: Tyler Reddick takes second from Christopher Bell. Bell seems to have cooked his tires after making a run at leader Bubba Wallace.

Lap 113: Ryan Preece pits. He has an extra set of tires.

LAP 102: Three-wide! Cole Custer, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott race three-wide, two rows deep, in 25th through 30th.

Lap 100:Shane van Gisbergen, who runs 19th, is running the highest groove on the track right now. His lap times are comparable with the top-10.

TOP-10 (LAP 84): Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe.

For comparison, here is the top-10 before pit stops started — on lap 30: Ryan Preece, A.J. Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman.

Before pit stops, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Austin Dillon, and Chase Briscoe were 13th, 15th, 20th, 14th and 19th, respectively.

Lap 79: Allmendinger, Hamlin, Elliott penalized, will go to the rear of the field.

Lap 73: Bubba Wallace beat Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon and William Byron off of pit road.

Elliott, Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley have an extra set of tires compared to the field. Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley are 14th, 15th, 20th, 22nd and 31st, respectively.

The second stage is 160 laps and ends on lap 230.

STAGE ONE Winner: Tyler Reddick

STAGE ONE TOP-10 (LAP 70): Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry, Daniel Suarez.

Here is who stayed out and where they finished in the first stage:

• Chase Elliott: 13th
• Ryan Preece: 15th
• Alex Bowman: 17th
• Carson Hocevar: 23rd
• Michael McDowell: 25th
• Justin Haley: 34th

LAP 60: Tyler Reddick takes the lead from Ryan Preece who still hasn’t pitted for tires. Reddick passed Denny Hamlin — who is on the same tire strategy — and then passed Preece. Preece and everyone who stayed out in the first stage will have an extra set of tires for the rest of the race.

LAP 54: Denny Hamlin is up to third, 3.6 seconds behind Ryan Preece and 1.2 seconds faster than him per lap.

LAP 48: Ryan Preece, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell have yet to pit. They run first through fifth. Justin Haley in ninth also hasn’t pitted. They are running lap times around 1.5-2 seconds slower than drivers on new tires.

Denny Hamlin, who pitted from second on lap 34, is now up to fifth.

LAP 30: William Byron pits. Tire wear is a big factor tonight and crew chief Rudy Fugle is going against the grain to get against that. Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick may also pit. Denny Hamlin is up to third. Kyle Larson pits.

LAP 14: Ryan Preece and A.J. Allmendinger lead with Tyler Reddick in third.

LAP 1: Ryan Preece leads Tyler Reddick, AJ Allmendinger, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell.

Engines are fired and it’s time to race at Richmond Raceway! Weather is no issue as it is sunny and dry with a Petty Blue sky that will give way to the stars in the universe and the stars in the NASCAR Cup Series — led by Ryan Preece and Tyler Reddick.

The first stage is 70 laps.

RACE START

Ryan Preece will start on the pole for the second time in his NASCAR Cup Series career with Tyler Reddick in second. Kyle Busch was fastest in practice and on most of the lap-average sheets but didn’t qualify as well.

Preece, Reddick and Busch are all on the playoff bubble. However, Reddick is in a much better position than the other two. He could clinch a playoff spot by gaining three points on Alex Bowman, who is behind him on points around the cutline:

• 14. Tyler Reddick +117 points to the cutline
• 15. Alex Bowman +60
• 16. Chris Buescher +34
• 17. Ryan Preece -34
• 18. Kyle Busch -102

Joey Logano and Todd Gilliland will go to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

Gilliland is looking for a win to get into the playoffs, much like Austin Dillon who came to Richmond last year looking for a win and got it — but then had his playoff berth away after wrecking Logano and Denny Hamlin to do it.

Here’s the info to know:

• Preece on pole, Busch fastest in practice for NASCAR Cup race at Richmond
• NASCAR TV schedule this weekend: Richmond 2025
• NASCAR at Richmond 2025: Odds and more info
• Average time of race: 3 hours, 3 minutes
• Pit road speed: 40 mph
• Caution vehicle speed: 45 mph
• Fuel window: 130 laps
• Green flag: 7:35 p.m. ET