The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) were at Richmond Raceway this weekend for the Cook Out 400 and the eero 250. Next weekend’s event at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) is all that remains of the 2025 NCS regular season.
Ryan Preece was the fastest during qualifying on Friday evening with a lap of 121.381 mph for his second career NCS pole.
“That was great adjustments by Derek (Finley) and everybody with this Kleenex, Kroger Ford Mustang,” Preece said. “I can’t think RFK enough for the opportunity, and boy, what a race car. It might not have shown up in practice early on for that fast lap, but it did in qualifying.”
The top-10 qualifiers for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | Ryan Preece | Kroger/Kleenex Ford | 22.244 | 121.381 |
| 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Chumba Casino Toyota | 22.331 | 120.908 |
| 3 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Black’s Tire Chevrolet | 22.341 | 120.854 |
| 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Progressive Toyota | 22.347 | 120.822 |
| 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | UniFirst Chevrolet | 22.361 | 120.746 |
| 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 22.362 | 120.741 |
| 7 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 22.379 | 120.649 |
| 8 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DEWALT Toyota | 22.384 | 120.622 |
| 9 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 22.397 | 120.552 |
| 10 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Workforce Chevrolet | 22.406 | 120.503 |
Dillon advances to the playoffs
Austin Dillon captured his first win of the 2025 season and his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series trophy on Saturday night in the Cook Out 400. Dillon led 107 laps, including the final 49 laps en route to his win and an automatic berth in the 16-driver Playoff field.
“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.”
Alex Bowman finished second and is currently in the final playoff transfer spot with a 60-point advantage over Chris Buescher.
“Yeah, certainly really stressful on a lot of fronts,” Bowman said. “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.”
Ryan Blaney finished third, Joey Logano fourth, and Austin Cindric finished fifth. Kyle Larson, Daniel Suárez, Josh Berry, Brad Keselowski, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top 10.
Chase Elliott was involved in a multi-car accident that ended his race early, and teammate William Byron formally clinched the Regular Season Championship with his 12th-place finish.
“It’s really the best 12th-place finish I’ve ever had,” Byron said. “We came in here and really just did a solid job. We qualified solid. We always want more, but this is definitely our toughest race track. We just kind of came in here, had a solid plan, and executed it.”
The race featured five caution flags for 44 laps, and 24 lead changes among 11 drivers.
After Richmond, William Byron leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings by 68 points over Chase Elliott, 73 points over Denny Hamlin, 80 points over Kyle Larson, and 83 points over Ryan Blaney.
Top-10 race results for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 on Saturday, August 16, 2025, at Richmond Raceway
| Pos | st | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro/Winchester Chevrolet | 400 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 54 | Running |
| 2 | 9 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 41 | Running |
| 3 | 20 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | BodyArmor Sports Drink Ford | 400 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 46 | Running |
| 4 | 38 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 5 | 13 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 400 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 41 | Running |
| 6 | 30 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 32 | Running |
| 7 | 21 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Quaker State Chevrolet | 400 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 40 | Running |
| 8 | 17 | 21 | Josh Berry | Eero Ford | 400 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 9 | 6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 400 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 10 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Progressive Toyota | 400 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 35 | Running |
Heim scores his seventh win of the season
Corey Heim started on the pole in his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota and led 76 laps en route to his seventh win of the season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular season finale on Friday.
“Felt like we were the best truck at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro, but they got away from us and we kind of got this one back,” Heim said. “I didn’t feel like we were the best truck tonight. I feel like the 98 (Majeski) was really stout, but obviously had a run-in and got some damage. Being there when it counted was the first goal, and we were, and just able to execute from there.”
Ty Majeski led 143 laps and won both stage one and stage two. But on lap 200, while leading the race, he got into teammate Matt Crafton in Turn 4. However, Majeski was able to recover and finish second.
The race featured five caution flags for 48 laps, and 13 lead changes among four drivers.
Top-10 race results for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series on eero 250 on Friday, August 15, 2025, at Richmond Raceway
| Pos | St | No | Driver | Team | Laps | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Corey Heim | Safelite Toyota | 250 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 56 | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 98 | Ty Majeski | Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford | 250 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 55 | Running |
| 3 | 3 | 34 | Layne Riggs | Love’s RV STOP Ford | 250 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 44 | Running |
| 4 | 5 | 7 | Sammy Smith(i) | Pilot Chevrolet | 250 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 5 | 26 | 77 | Corey LaJoie | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | Running |
| 6 | 35 | 17 | Giovanni Ruggiero # | First Auto Group Toyota | 250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | Running |
| 7 | 8 | 13 | Jake Garcia | Quanta Services Ford | 250 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 41 | Running |
| 8 | 17 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | TSPORT Trucks Ford | 250 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 9 | 6 | 38 | Chandler Smith | The Pete Store Ford | 250 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 37 | Running |
| 10 | 11 | 52 | Kaden Honeycutt | Halmar International Toyota | 250 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 37 | Running |
The 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs field is set, with 10 drivers slated to race for the championship crown, beginning at Darlington Raceway on August 30th.
- Corey Heim, 2,065 points
- Layne Riggs, 2,026 points
- Chandler Smith, 2,019 points
- Daniel Hemric, 2,011 points
- Tyler Ankrum, 2,010 points
- Ty Majeski, 2,010 points
- Grant Enfinger, 2,007 points
- Rajah Caruth, 2,005 points
- Kaden Honeycutt, 2,003 points
- Jake Garcia, 2,002 points
The playoffs will consist of three rounds:
- The Round of 10 will be at Darlington, Bristol Motor Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
- The Round of 8 will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Talladega Superspeedway, and Martinsville Speedway.
- Championship 4 will be at Phoenix Raceway for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
