Austin Dillon erases last year’s heartbreak, punches ticket to Playoffs: Austin Dillon claimed his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series race trophy, earned a 2025 Playoff bid and just as importantly, he enjoyed some sweet redemption in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. Dillon led 107 laps on the night, including the final 49 to claim the victory and automatic berth in the 16-driver Playoff field – vaulting from a 25th place position in the championship standings before the green flag to a championship berth at the checkered flag in a clutch effort from the 2018 Daytona 500 winner and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team.[Read More]
#3-Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. The win is his first win of the year, second at Richmond and sixth career win.
#48-Alex Bowman finished 2nd followed by #12-Ryan Blaney, #22-Joey Logano, #2-Austin Cindric, #5-Kyle Larson, #99-Daniel Suarez, #21-Josh Berry, #6-Brad Keselowski, and #11-Denny Hamlin.
Pole sitter #60-Ryan Preece led 60 laps early in the race but had mechanical troubles late and finished 35th.
Dillon got his first win since Richmond last year and locked himself into the playoffs. He led 107 laps on the night, made his final pit stop earlier than the other leaders and won by 2.5 seconds.
William Byron is the 2025 regular season champion. There are two playoff spots remaining heading to next week’s regular season finale at Daytona.
Stage 1 was won by #45-Tyler Reddick. Stage 2 was won by #23-Bubba Wallace.
The fastest lap bonus a earned by #23-Bubba Wallace
There were 24 lead changes among 11 drivers and 5 cautions for 44 yellow flag laps.
The average speed of the race was: 94.126mph.
See race details at: Race Results, Driver Points Standings, Owner Points Standings, Cumulative Report, Penalty Report.
Race Fast Facts – Richmond:
Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400, his sixth victory in 433 Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2025.
This is his second victory and eighth top-10 finish in 22 races at Richmond Raceway.
Alex Bowman (second) posted his fifth top-10 finish in 18 races at Richmond Raceway. It is his 14th top-10 finish in 2025.
Ryan Blaney (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 18 races at Richmond Raceway.
Shane Van Gisbergen (14th) was the highest finishing rookie.
William Byron leads the point standings by 68 points over Chase Elliott and has clinched the Regular Season Championship.
(NASCAR)
Cup Series Playoff Standings after Richmond:
Race 25 of 26 in the regular season
1) #11-Denny Hamlin, 4 wins, 766 [24 playoff points]
2) #88-Shane Van Gisbergen, 4 wins, 464 [22 playoff points]
3) #20-Christopher Bell, 3 wins, 748 [17 playoff points]
4) #5-Kyle Larson, 3 wins, 759 [23 playoff points]
5) #24-William Byron, 2 win, 839 [regular season champion] [17 playoff points]
6) #9-Chase Elliott, 1 win, 771 [6 playoff points]
7) #12-Ryan Blaney, 1 win, 756 [11 playoff points]
8) #19-Chase Briscoe, 1 win, 698 [7 playoff point]
9) #23-Bubba Wallace, 1 win, 639 [8 playoff points]
10) #22-Joey Logano, 1 win, 616 [7 playoff points]
11) #1-Ross Chastain, 1 win, 589 [6 playoff points]
12) #2-Austin Cindric, 1 win, 543 [8 playoff points]
13) #21-Josh Berry, 1 win, 476 [6 playoff points]
14) #3-Austin Dillon, 1 win, 460 [5 playoff points]
15) #45-Tyler Reddick, 714 [2 playoff points], +89 ahead of 17th
16) #48-Alex Bowman, 685,+60 ahead of 17th
Outside the top 16:
17) #16-Chris Buescher, 625 [-3 playoff points], -60 behind 16th
18) #60-Ryan Preece, 591, [2 playoff points], -94 behind 16th
See the Driver Points Standings and Owner Points Standings.
Race updates:
Checkered flag for Austin Dillon. He wins over Bowman, Blaney, Logano, and Cindric.
White flag for ADillon.
Lap 396 – Bowman still 3.1 seconds behind with 5 to go.
Lap 391 – 10 t0 go. ADillon by 3.5 seconds.
Lap 386 – 15 laps to go. Bowman has gotten around Blaney for second, but is 3.9 seconds behind ADillon.
Lap 383 – ADillon’s lead now 4 seconds as Blaney is not making an progress. 18 laps to go.
Lap 380 – 21 laps remaining. ADillon lead is 3.8 seconds over Blaney. Third place Bowman is 5 seconds back.
Lap 370 – Blaney is still gaining on ADillon with slightly fresher tires. Now 3.5 seconds back.
Lap 361 – Forty laps to go. ADillon ahead of Blaney by 4.6 seconds. Then Bowman, Suarez, Logano, Cindric, Hamlin, Berry, Briscoe, and Larson. Hocevar pits for his final scheduled stop.
Lap 355 – Blaney already to second, 6.2 seconds back of ADillon.
Lap 354 – Blaney to third. Hocevar, on a three stop strategy, is 2nd.
Lap 353 – ADillon retakes the lead as Keselowski pits. Blaney is 4th, 6.6 second back.
Lap 351 – Keselowski to the lead as Larson pits. ADillon is second, 1.3 second back.
Lap 350 – ADillon is now third, Blaney is in 6th, about 7 seconds behind him.
Lap 347 – Cindric pits and Larson takes the lead.
Lap 345 – Blaney pits from the lead. Bowman comes with him. Cindric takes the lead.
Lap 342 – Blaney takes the lead back as ADillon jumps to pit road.
Lap 341 – ADillon takes the lead back after finally getting by Blaney. Bowman remains third, but still more than 3 seconds back.
Lap 339 – Blaney and ADillon still battling for the lead. Their final scheduled pit stops will be coming up soon.
Lap 334 – Blaney back to the lead at the start-finish.
Lap 333 – ADillon leads at the line as he continues to fight Blaney for the lead.
Lap 331 – ADillon now battling Blaney for the lead.
Lap 321 – 80 laps remaining. Currently Blaney, ADillon, Bowman, Berry, Logano, Cindric, Suarez, Byron, Briscoe, and Hamlin. Hocevar pits again to kick off another round of stops for those on the three stop strategy.
Lap 311 – Blaney ahead of ADillon by 1 second. Byron, in third is 3.1 seconds back. Then Bowman and Berry.
Lap 305 – Blaney, on fresher tires, takes the lead from Hocevar. ADillon moves to second.
Lap 302 – Gibbs now thinks the engine is blowing up.
Lap 301 – 100 laps remaining. 300 laps complete in 2 hours, 30 minutes.
Lap 298 – Pitting outside the box penalty for Wallace after his tire troubles.
Lap 296 – Hocevar now the leader over Berry, Blaney, Byron and ADillon. Gibbs’ left front tire is smoking.
Lap 293 – ADillon pits from the lead. Cindric becomes the leader.
Lap 292 – Blaney, Wallace, and Bowman peel off to pit. Wallace loses the left front wheel as he comes out of his stall. Briscoe’s team puts the tire on for him.
Lap 289 – Several more drivers in for service, including Buescher, Busch, Hamlin, Suarez.
Lap 287 – Blaney has taken second from Wallace.
Lap 286 – Now Chastain and Berry on pit road.
Lap 285 – McDowell pits. Drivers splitting the final stage into 3 should be pitting soon.
Lap 280 – Hocevar comes to the pits. He missed pit road the first time by.
Lap 276 – 125 laps remaining. ADillon leads Wallace by 2.6 seconds. Third place Bowman is 3.4 seconds back. Then Blaney and Suarez.
Lap 260 – ADillon now with a 2.7 second lead over Wallace.
Lap 250 – ADillon leads Wallace by .9 second. Then Bowman, Hocevar, and Suarez. McDowell has fallen to 13th with two tires.
Lap 243 – ADillon to the lead after McDowell got into the back of Wallace.
Lap 242 – Wallace takes the lead back.
Lap 241 – Back to green for the start of the final stage.
Lap 234 – Pit road is open. Leaders are all in. Off pit road: McDowell (2 tires), Wallace, Blaney , ADillon, Suarez, Bowman, Larson, Hocevar, Preece.
Lap 231 – CAUTION for the end of stage 2. Wallace wins it over Suarez, Blaney, ADillon, Bowman, Preece, Hocevar, Cindric, Byron, and Larson.
Lap 226 – Five laps left in stage 2. Wallace in control.
Lap 214 – Back to green with 17 laps left in stage 2. Wallace leads Suarez, Blaney, ADillon, Logano, Preece, Cindric, Bowman, Bell, and Larson.
Lap 209 – Pit road is open. Byron pits. The rest of the field stays out.
Lap 201 – Race is halfway complete in 1 hour 36 minutes. Elliott is done for the night.
Lap 199 – Another CAUTION. A wreck involving Keselowski, Briscoe, Haley, Busch, Hamlin, Elliott and others in turn 3 and 4.
Lap 197 – Green flag back out. 34 laps remaining in stage 2.
Lap 194 – Pit road is open but most of the field stays out.
Lap 192 – CAUTION. Ware spins in turn 2.
Lap 189 – Back to green. Wallace, Suarez, Logano, Blaney, Cindric, ADillon, Byron, Keselowski, Bell, Chastain the top 10.
Lap 185 – Larson pits from the lead. He had not pitted before the caution. Preece comes down again as well. Wallace again the leader.
Lap 181 – Larson currently the leader. Now a CAUTION when Reddick spins in turn 4 after contact from Gibbs, who was hit by Suarez.
Lap 179 – Wallace, Reddick and Bell pit from up front.
Lap 178 – Green flag stops continuing for most of the field.
Lap 175 – Green flag pit stops beginning again. Chastain, Buescher, Bowman and Suarez among those in.
Lap 171 – Sixty laps remaining in stage 2. Wallace leads Reddick, Blaney, Logano, Cindric, Suarez, Bell, ADillon, Hamlin and Byron.
Lap 165 – Wallace takes the lead.
Lap 162 – Blaney now up to third, behind Reddick and Wallace.
Lap 151 – Reddick leads Wallace by .75 second. ADillon, Suarez, and Logano. Hamlin up to 12, Preece comes back to pit road for service.
Lap 144 – Wallace now back up to second.
Lap 140 – Reddick now the leader over ADillon, Suarez, Wallace, Logano, Cindric, Buescher, Bell, Larson and Blaney. Preece has fallen to 11th.
Lap 133 – ADillon now the leader over Suarez. Preece back to third.
Lap 132 – Preece, who pitted early, takes the lead back. ADillon second, then Suareaz, Logano and Reddick.
Lap 131 – Wallace pits from the lead.
Lap 130 – Busch too fast on pit road in sections 1-10.
Lap 125 – Pit stops in full swing now for those that are going to split the stage in thirds.
Lap 123 – Wallace continues to lead but Reddick is back in second.
Lap 121 – Hocevar and Allmendinger pit.
Lap 119 – Heim pits, followed by Nemechek. Heim is too fast on pit road.
Lap 113 – Preece pits early this time.
Lap 101 – First 100 laps complete in 46 minutes. Wallace still leads Bell and Reddick.
Lap 88 – Wallace continues to lead but Bell has moved to second, .6 second back. Then Reddick, Blaney and Cindric.
Lap 80 – Green flag for the start of the second stage: Wallace, Reddick, Bell, Cindric, Blaney, Suarez, Elliott, Keselowski, ADillon and Byron. Preece restarts 15th.
Lap 75 – Pit road is open. Leader lap cars are in. Off pit road: Wallace, Reddick, Bell, Cindric, Blaney, Suarez. Hamlin was speeding on pit road. Vehicle interference for Allmendinger and Elliott.
Lap 71 – CAUTION for the end of stage 1. Reddick wins it over Wallace, Hamlin, ADillon, Cindric, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski, Berry, and Suarez. Preece, who did not pit during the stage, along with a few other drivers, is 15th. TDillon is the free pass.
Lap 65 – Six laps remaining in stage 1: Reddick, Hamlin, Wallace, Allmendinger, Bell, ADillon Cindric up front.
Lap 61 – Hamlin also around Preece to take second.
Lap 60 – Reddick takes the lead from Preece.
Lap 55 – Hamlin up to third, 4.8 seconds back.
Lap 50 – Currently Preece, Elliott, Bowman, Hocevar, and Hamlin. Hamlin has pitted, the top 4 have not.
Lap 44 – Keselowski now pitting. Preece and Elliott still on track.
Lap 37 – Pit stops continue to cycle through. Preece still the leader.
Lap 35 – Now more pit stops including Allmendinger, TDillon, Busch, Nemechek and others.
Lap 34 – Larson pits
Lap 33 – Some green flag pit stops beginning with Byron coming down.
Lap 30 – Preece still out front over Allmendinger, Hamlin, Reddick, Elliott, Keselowski, Wallace, Bell, Cindric, Bowman.
Lap 15 – Preece leads Allmendinger by .4 second. Lap times have already dropped about one second for all drivers.
Lap 10 – Allmendinger up to second. Reddick back to third, then Hamlin and Elliott.
Lap 2 – Preece leads lap 1.
• 7:39pm/et – Green flag at Richmond
• 7:28pm/et – Engines fired at Richmond.
• 7:20pm/et – Pre-race ceremonies are underway.
• 7:00pm/et – USA Network now has race coverage.
• 4:30pm/et – NASCAR now says Logano and Gilliland will start at the rear for unapproved adjustments.
• No drivers to the rear yet. Logano’s team had decided to repair his car yesterday after Joey got into the wall during practice.
• No weather issues tonight. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with temperatures in the 80%. Virtually no chance of rain.
Race details:
Broadcast: USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 400 laps / 300 miles
Stages: 70 / 230 / 400
Average time of race: 3:03:00
Pit road speed: 40 mph
Caution car speed: 45 mph
Fuel Window: 130 laps
Timing (all times local & subject to change)
Invocation: 7:20:20 p.m.
National Anthem: 7:21:00 p.m.
Command: 7:28:00 p.m.
Green Flag: 7:35:00 p.m.
Paint Schemes
Cars to the rear: #22-Joey Logano (unapproved adjustments), #34-Todd Gilliland (unapproved adjustments)
Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway have been made.
Pole winner #60-Ryan Preece chose pit stall 1.
Outside pole sitter #45-Tyler Reddick took the 10th stall, with an opening in front of it.
See all pit choices on the Richmond Pit Stall page.
#60-Ryan Preece won the Busch pole for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway with a speed of 121.381mph for his first pole of the year, first at Richmond and second of his career.
#45-Tyler Reddick will start second followed by #16-A.J. Allmendinger, #11-Denny Hamlin, #9-Chase Elliott, #6-Brad Keselowski, #23-Bubba Wallace,#20-Christopher Bell, #48-Alex Bowman, and #71-Michael McDowell.
See the complete qualifying results and the Cook Out 400 Starting Lineup.
Richmond – Qualifying Fast Facts:
Ryan Preece won the Pole Award for the Cook Out 400 with a lap of 22.244 seconds, 121.381 mph.
This is his second pole in 212 NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first pole and sixth top-10 start in 2025.
This is his first pole in ten races at Richmond Raceway.
* Tyler Reddick (second) posted his 12th top-10 start of 2025 and his fourth in ten races at Richmond Raceway.
AJ Allmendinger (third) posted his sixth top-10 start at Richmond Raceway. It is his ninth in 25 races this season.
Riley Herbst (26th) was the fastest qualifying rookie
(NASCAR)
Qualifying Order
NASCAR Cup Series pre-race inspection is complete at Richmond Raceway.
- NCS #16 failed inspection twice.
- NCS #16 car chief Jaron Antley has been ejected for the remainder of this event. The #16 will also lose pit selection for this event.
Practice for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is over. The results:
#8-Kyle Busch 118.172
#42-John Hunter Nemechek 118.110
#11-Denny Hamlin 117.909
#4-Noah Gragson 117.898
#67-Corey Heim 117.575
Slowest: #22-Joey Logano 114.015mph
Most laps run: #71-Michael McDowell, 57 laps.
Best 10 consecutive lap avg (of 38 drivers): #8-Kyle Busch, 115.537mph
Notes: #22-Joey Logano had a tire go down and got into the outside wall. #77-Carson Hocevar spun at the conclusion of practice.
See the fastest speeds, best 10 consecutive lap average, laps run on the Cook Out 400 Practice speeds page.
Crew Rosters
The entry list for the Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway is posted, 39 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
Open cars: #4-Noah Gragson, #23-Bubba Wallace, #33-Jesse Love, #34-Todd Gilliland, #35-Riley Herbst, #38-Zane Smith, #44-TBA, #45-Tyler Reddick, #67-Corey Heim.
UPDATE: The #44 team has withdrawn.
See the full entry list on the Cook Out 400 Entry List page.
Goodyear Fast Facts — Richmond: Cup Series teams will run the same combination of Goodyear Racing Eagle tires used at Bowman Gray Stadium, Martinsville Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway earlier this year. The right-side tire is the same used as the “option” tire at Richmond last year. The left-side tire is slightly softer than last year.
Statistical Advance: Analyzing the Cook Out 400: A look at some of the top statistical performers at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, going into the Cook Out 400 this Sunday.
NASCAR Cup Series News & Notes – Richmond Raceway:
- This weekend marks the 137th running of a NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.
- Richmond first held a Cup race in 1953 and has held a Cup race every year since 1955.
- This is only the second year since 1959 that Richmond has hosted only one race, 2020 pandemic season was the other.
- Richmond is the fourth of six short track races in 2025.
- Only one of the last 13 Richmond winners was under the age of 30.
- The Richmond race last August had three cautions, tied for the fewest on a short track in the Next Gen era (2022-2025).
- The last three Richmond races had a caution in the final 10 laps.
- A stage winner has not won in the last eight Richmond races.
- See much more
Race rules and information:
