NASCAR CUP SERIES
RICHMOND RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
AUGUST 16, 2025
Austin Dillon Drives to Richmond Repeat and Berth into
2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team conquered the Richmond repeat – taking the checkered flag in the Cook Out 400 for the team’s first trip to victory lane of the season and a guaranteed spot into the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Dillon delivered Chevrolet it’s 12th win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, with the 35-year-old Welcome, North Carolina, native becoming the sixth driver from the third different Chevrolet organization to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoff field.
A pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates had strong points days, with Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Chevrolet team earning a runner-up result to build a 60-point cushion over the cutline heading into the series’ regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway. Williams Byron turned in a 12th-place finish in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to clinch his first career regular season title in NASCAR’s top division.
Ending a strong Friday with a third-place qualifying effort, AJ Allmendinger picked up right where he left – driving his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to the runner-up position and quickly closed in on the pole sitter and then race leader Ryan Preece. The first green-flag pit cycle of the race began during the halfway point of Stage One with crew chief, Trent Owens, calling Allmendinger to pit road on Lap 37 to put a set of scuff tires on his No. 16 Chevrolet. Despite fighting very loose conditions on the second run, the 43-year-old California native clawed his way back up into the top-10 to take the first green-white checkered flag.
It was defending Richmond winner, Austin Dillon, that led the Bowtie brigade to the end of Stage One with a fourth-place result. Returning to pit road for a fresh set of Goodyear tires and fuel under the stage break, Dillon lined up his No. 3 Chevrolet in the third position to begin Stage Two. Running steady in the top-10, Dillon made a 53-lap run before crew chief, Richard Boswell, called the team to pit road under the green-flag pit cycle – making his way back to the front of the pack to take the lead at the Lap 134 marker. Battling overall grip throughout the second run, Dillon managed to hold on to a top-10 running position before making his second green-flag stop for four tires, fuel and a round of adjustments to help with corner entry. The 35-year-old North Carolina native cycled back up into the top-five on the third run of the stage – holding onto position through a trio of late cautions to score back-to-back fourth-place stage points.
Restarting in the third position, Dillon powered his No. 3 Chevrolet back to the lead to open the final stage – pulling away to a three-second lead when the race hit 130 laps to go. Finding rhythm at the top of the leaderboard, yet another green-flag pit cycle found Dillon back in the runner-up position and at a half-second margin behind then-race leader Ryan Blaney. A side-by-side battle for the lead for a handful of laps saw Dillon take the lead right before a call from Boswell with 59 laps to go brought the Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet down pit road for the team’s final scheduled stop. Quickly cycling back up the running order, Dillon went on to inherit a six-second lead with 48 laps to go in the race. Masterfully conserving his tires, Dillon maintained a nearly three-second lead en route to his sixth career victory in NASCAR’s top division.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st – Austin Dillon
2nd – Alex Bowman
6th – Kyle Larson
7th – Daniel Suarez
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 25 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 12
Poles: 10
Top-Fives: 50
Top 10s: 107
Stage Wins: 20
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series regular season will conclude at Daytona International Speedway with the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday, August 23, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
The way it all played out last year, how important was it for you to come back in front of sellout crowd and do it the right way?
“Man, that feels good. Got to thank the good Lord above. I really wanted that one. Last year hurt really bad, just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond.
Our No. 3 Winchester/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet was really good. I didn’t feel great this week. I’ve actually been racing with a broken rib right now for the last two weeks. But man, that was awesome.”
All the emotion this team went through, the entire organization at RCR, does this year-long wait make it worth it?
“Oh, for sure. God has timing. His timing is the best timing. So excited to get my wife and kids here to celebrate with us.
Man, it’s so sweet. My dad prayed with me before the race. He was at our hunting land doing some food plots. It’s just so special. Every one of these means so much to me. My grandfather, for all that he’s put up in believing in me because there’s been a lot of ups and downs. It could have been easy for him to change the drivers in this No. 3 car. Today, it feels really darn good.”
What is it about this place that makes you come alive?
“Tire management. I’m probably the slowest to get going on some of these tracks when it really comes to high grip. But when it comes to these places and taking care of your stuff, I’ll go against the best of them.”
How about doing this for RCR, did you feel you were carrying the weight of the entire company?
“We really love it. Welcome, North Carolina — when you cross those railroad tracks, it’s all for one and one for all. Really pumped to be driving for my grandfather and my family.”
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 6th
Sixth-place finish after having to come from the back of the field. How much of a struggle was it tonight?
“Yeah, on equal tires, it was really difficult to pass. I felt like my team did an amazing job with our strategy today in every stage of the race. Without the great calls, we definitely wouldn’t have finished up here, so huge kudos to Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everyone on the No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Chevrolet team. They worked really hard all night and grinded it out.”
How was the balance on the No. 5 Chevrolet tonight?
“I thought restarts and stuff in traffic, I felt like I was too tight in the center, and then it would just kind of beat my stuff up. We short-pitted early in the race and then went long in the second and third stages and I felt like that allowed me to take care of my tires better; come out in fresher air and just not stress the tires too badly. It helped us on the long run, for sure.”
Thoughts on going to Daytona next weekend:
“Yeah, there’s one more race until the playoffs start. Anybody has a shot to win at Daytona (International Speedway), so hopefully we can go there and have a good race, a good points day and get ready for the playoffs.”
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two.
Finished: 38th
Elliott on the incident that ended the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet team’s day in Stage Two.
“I think Kyle (Busch) just didn’t know that we were trying to squeeze by the wreck on the bottom. He was kind of angled back towards the bottom of the racetrack, and I was just coming through. It’s just unfortunate. We had a good start to the race. We kind of got on the wrong end there in the beginning and lost some track position. We got behind the No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) and got a penalty. I thought we were in a pretty good spot right there. We finally got on some better tires and we were making our way through there well, so I was excited to see where that was going to go, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Byron Clinched the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship
Finished: 12th
From being involved in a wreck to winning the regular-season championship, how big of a swing was that?
“Yeah, I was kind of losing my mind there for a minute. Just felt like there was so much going on and just such a balance of trying to manage tires all night. It just got crazy on those couple restarts. That one restart was kind of the tipping point.
We had some really good runs tonight. I was happy with the end of stage one and the beginning of stage two. Throughout stage two, we were pretty good. Beginning of stage three, we climbed up; had that one set of tires that we put on and we fell way back.
It just feels great. It’s really the best 12th-place finish I’ve ever had. The No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet team came in here and really just did a solid job. We qualified solid. We always want more, but this is definitely our toughest racetrack. We just kind of came in here, had a solid plan and executed it. All the guys have worked hard through the summer months. I feel like this has been the best summer we’ve ever had, speed-wise. We had a lot of tough things happen throughout early July. We had a lot of speed, but some crashes in practice and qualifying. Just some car issues and things that happened. But yeah, it’s just really, really cool. We’re looking forward to the Playoffs.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 2nd
What did you need tonight?
“A couple favors. I sure complained about it on the radio, but that’s just part of what we do.
We had a really good No. 48 Ally Chevrolet in the last run, just broke the tires off too much in lap traffic. We didn’t get any breaks and that made me kind of work the rears harder than I needed to. We just needed to be a little better through there to get to him (Austin Dillon, race winner). I certainly think we had the better car ,but unfortunately, we didn’t get there. Blake (Harris, crew chief) and all the guys did a great job. Just came up a little bit short.”
Next week, you will be 16th, at that cutoff point. Can you talk to us about being a stressor, how will you handle the week?
“Yeah, certainly really stressful on a lot of fronts. I mean, I think 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. We just need to go execute and try to win the race. That’s all we can really do.
Just proud of all the guys to continue to work hard and try to overcome the situation we’re in. We’ll keep digging.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 14th
“That was fun! A good recovery and great result in my first Cup start at Richmond. Tire strategy was huge tonight and my 88 WeatherTech team did an awesome job executing. Some good momentum for us as we get closer to the playoffs. Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish at Daytona.”
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
“It was a good night for the No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet team. I wish it was a win, but overall, it was a decent night. There’s a couple of things we maybe could have done better, but our Chevrolet was a top-five or top-10 car all night long and that’s where we ended up. It’s good to get two top-10 finishes in a row.”
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