Cook Out 400: Richmond Raceway
Richmond, VA – August 11, 2024

AUSTIN CINDRIC No. 2 MENARDS/LIBMAN FORD MUSTANG

START: 18TH STAGE ONE: 19TH STAGE TWO: 20TH FINISH: 24TH POINTS: 20TH

RACE RUNDOWN: In what turned out to be a chaotic end to Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Austin Cindric finished 24th in the No. 2 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang. The Team Penske driver took the green flag from the 18th position and muscled forward immediately, climbing to 13th within the opening ten laps. As the opening run went on, the handling of the No. 2 Ford Mustang began to fade and Cindric lost position, ultimately finishing 19th in the opening stint. He then marched to pit road for a new set of the yellow Prime tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, lining up 18th for the restart. He continued to be tasked with an ill-handling race car and returned to the attention of the Menards/Libman pit crew on Lap 122 for the red Option tires and eventually climbed back inside the top 15. Just over 40 laps later, Cindric returned to the Prime tires and on Lap 177 alerted the team that he was losing power steering. Despite the unexpected hurdle, the former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion flexed his muscle and forged ahead to finish 20th in Stage 2. Cindric opted against the team diagnosing the issue under the break as he would lose valuable positions in the running order and just took four fresh Option tires and fuel. He restarted 20th and informed the team on Lap 283 that he was starting to lose grip. He navigated back to pit road to receive a set of Prime tires and jetted back off, pitting just once more later in the race before finishing 24th as a hectic last-lap incident involving the race leaders played out.

CINDRIC’S THOUGHTS: “Yeah, it was unfortunate. I felt like we spent about 100 laps there as the lucky dog to start Stage 3. We started Stage 2 and I lost power steering, so that definitely made my day more physical than I probably had expected. So it was a bit unfortunate for the No. 2 Menards/Libman Ford Mustang. I thought we had a decent run going there – got some good spots on the start. So, yeah, we’ve just got some stuff to clean up. I learned a lot about the Option tire and all the different strategies, so there’ll be plenty to review if we do this in the future.”

RYAN BLANEY No. 12 BODYARMOR SPORT WATER FORD MUSTANG

START: 11TH STAGE ONE: 14TH STAGE TWO: 14TH FINISH: 11TH POINTS: 5TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Ryan Blaney battled his way back to an 11th-place finish Sunday night at Richmond Raceway in the Cup Series’ second trip to the Virgina short track. After starting 11th, Blaney settled into 12th in the running order for a majority of the opening stage as the BODYARMOR Sport Water Ford experienced a tight-handling condition in the center of the corners. Blaney ultimately settled for a 14th-place finish in the first 70-lap stage before crew chief Jonathan Hassler dialed in a round of adjustments during the team’s four tire stop under caution. The entirety of Stage 2 saw green flag racing as teams were forced to make a pair of scheduled green flag stops. After cycling to third in the running order at the start of the first round of pit stops, Blaney was called to pit road on lap 131 for four tires and a round of adjustments before his final stop of the stage came on lap 177 for the same service. Blaney managed to work his way back to 14th by the end of the second stage as he reported improvement in turn in the center of the corner despite being tight at the start of each run. The 12 team began the final stage on the softer option tire the saw Blaney charge into the top-10 shortly after the restart. Blaney climbed the leaderboard to third before his scheduled green flag service on lap 281, but a slow stop mired the No. 12 back to 17th in the running order and fighting to get back on the lead lap. The 12 team altered their strategy for the final green flag cycle of the night, opting to run long before pitting for its last set of option tires on lap 357 to make ground on the leaders with the harder prime tire. Blaney made his way through the field in the closing laps to get back inside the top-10 with 12 to go before the caution came out with two laps to go, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Blaney pitted for four prime tires prior to the final restart and ultimately took the checkered flag 11th.

BLANEY’S THOUGHTS: “I actually thought it was a good night for us. We were able to fight back to get in the top-10 before the last caution and ended up 11th. Overall, it was a good night. I definitely think it could have been better, but not bad.”

JOEY LOGANO No. 22 SHELL-PENNZOIL FORD MUSTANG

START: 9TH STAGE ONE: 4TH STAGE TWO: 4TH FINISH: 19TH POINTS: 15TH

RACE RUNDOWN: Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil team put themselves in position to pick up their second win of the season Sunday night at Richmond but were taken out off the exit of turn four coming to the checkered flag, resulting in a 19th-place finish. Logano displayed top-five speed from the drop of the green flag, charging his way into the top-five just 12 laps in before crossing the line fourth at the end of Stage 1. Despite a tight-handling condition at the beginning of the first few runs of the night, Logano continued to hang with the leaders throughout a second stage that featured a pair of green flag stops on laps 123 and 176. Logano ultimately came away with a fourth-place finish in Stage 2 before crew chief Paul Wolfe made the call to use the team’s first of two sets of option tires to begin the final segment. After restarting fourth, Logano reached second in the running order on lap 246 before Wolfe called the Shell-Pennzoil Ford to pit road for four prime tires on lap 280 as Logano cycled back to second in the running order, this time chasing the No. 11 for the lead. As the two battled through lapped traffic with 100 laps to go, Logano made his final green flag stop of the night on lap 331 as he reported the front turn was beginning to fade, prompting the 22 crew to service him with four prime tires and a round of adjustments. While running third with two laps to go, the caution flag flew to set up one final trip to pit road before the green-white-checkered finish. Wolfe made the call to put on the team’s final set of option tires and a fast stop saw Logano come off pit road second, allowing him to restart from the outside of row one. Logano charged into turn one from the outside lane and cleared the No. 3 off turn two as he came around to take the white flag, but as the field made its way into turns three and four for the final time, the No. 3 got into the rear bumper of Logano and sent him spinning up into the outside wall, ending his chance to pick up his third-career win at Richmond.

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action on Sunday, August 18 for the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Buescher Finishes 18th in Fastenal Ford

RICHMOND, Virginia (August 11, 2024) – Chris Buescher earned stage points early in Sunday night’s 300+ mile race from Richmond Raceway, but Brad Keselowski earned the better finish of the two RFK cars, crossing the line 16th, while Buescher finished 18th.

Despite showing speed late, Keselowski was behind in track position from the start in the BuildSubmarines.com Ford, while Buescher had to overcome a pit road issue in the Fastenal machine. Outside of that, the race ran caution-free – outside of stage breaks – until the final lap when the yellow flew for a two-car incident, sending the finish into what was a chaotic NASCAR Overtime.

6 Recap
Keselowski began the day from the 26th spot after his single-car qualifying session on Saturday. He finished the caution-free first stage in 27th before pitting for the first time in the stage break. After a stage two finish of 22nd, Keselowski worked his way inside the top-20 late as pit cycles varied with the option tire coming into play.

The late caution aided in Keselowski’s efforts to regain some track position, but ultimately the timing was too late as the No. 6 crossed the line 16th.

17 Recap
Buescher looked to have a strong shot at a top-10 through much of the day, but an issue on pit road negated that chance. Opposite of his teammate, Buescher had a strong day in practice and qualifying, firing off the grid seventh Sunday evening.

He wound up eighth to end the opening stage of 70 laps, and began the second stage back in seventh. It was the next stop under a green-flag cycle that saw an issue on the left front, ultimately making Buescher lose a lap to the leaders.

It was an uphill battle from there as the team had to claw its way back to the lead lap, and like Keselowski, it did so but only with a handful of laps before finishing 18th.

Up Next
Michigan hosts its lone race date next weekend with race coverage set for 2:30 p.m. ET. TV coverage on Sunday can be seen on USA, with radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).

About RFK Racing
RFK Racing, in its 37th season in 2024, features an ownership lineup pairing one of the sport’s most iconic names, Jack Roush, along with NASCAR Champion, Brad Keselowski, and Fenway Sports Group owner John Henry. Roush initially founded the team in 1988 and it has since become one of the most successful racing operations in the world, propelling him to be the first NASCAR owner to amass three hundred wins and capturing eight championships, including back-to-back NASCAR Cup titles in 2003 and 2004. Keselowski, a former owner in the NASCAR Truck Series, is the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. In 2007, Roush partnered with Henry, who also owns Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, English Premier League’s Liverpool F.C., and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, to form Roush Fenway Racing. Off the track, RFK is a leader and proven winner in NASCAR marketing solutions, having produced multiple award-winning social media, digital content and experiential marketing campaigns. Visit rfkracing.com, and follow the team on all social platforms @rfkracing.

STEWART-HAAS RACING
Cook Out 400
Date: Aug. 11, 2024
Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 23 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (70 laps/160 laps/170 laps)
Note: Race extended eight laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Suárez of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)

SHR Finish:

● Josh Berry (Started 3rd, Finished 14th / Running, completed 408 of 408 laps)
● Noah Gragson (Started 16th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 407 of 408 laps)
● Chase Briscoe (Started 25th, Finished 21st / Running, completed 407 of 408 laps)
● Ryan Preece (Started 26th, Finished 25th / Running, completed 407 of 408 laps)

SHR Points:

● Chase Briscoe (17th with 485 points, 294 out of first)
● Josh Berry (23rd with 412 points, 367 out of first)
● Noah Gragson (24th with 400 points, 379 out of first)
● Ryan Preece (27th with 341 points, 438 out of first)

SHR Notes:

● Berry earned his ninth top-15 of the season and his third top-15 in three career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond.
● Berry finished 10th in Stage 1 to earn one bonus point.
● Gragson earned his 14th top-20 of the season and his second straight top-20 at Richmond.

Race Notes:

● Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400 to score his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. Denny Hamlin finished second as the race ended under caution.

● There were four caution periods for a total of 26 laps.

● Only 19 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Richmond with a five-point advantage over second-place Tyler Reddick.

Sound Bites:

“It was fun. We struggled a little bit more than we thought we were going to, but all in all we executed a good race, stayed on the lead lap and got a solid finish. We’ll just build off of that and go to Michigan.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 P&G Supports Our Military Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“We just kind of struggled all weekend, just needed forward drive, but still super proud of our group. We got the car better, just kind of got behind all day. We’re super excited for next weekend at Michigan and we’ll keep going.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“For what we’ve kind of had here at Richmond from just a racing standpoint – you know, it’s kind of been hard to pass – I don’t know what it looked like outside of the car, but inside the car it looked like there were a lot of guys going forward, going backward. It definitely added a new complexion and strategy to the race. I’d be interested to see what we’d all look like if we ran the soft tire the whole time. I thought it was OK.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rinnai Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, Aug. 18 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

RICK WARE RACING
Cook Out 400
Date: Aug. 11, 2024
Event: Cook Out 400 (Round 23 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Richmond (Va.) Raceway (.75-mile oval)
Format: 400 laps, broken into three stages (70 laps/160 laps/170 laps)
Note: Race extended eight laps past its scheduled 400-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

Race Winner: Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Christopher Bell of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)

RWR Race Finish:

● Justin Haley (Started 36th , Finished 27th/ Running, completed 406 of 408 laps)
● Riley Herbst (Started 34th, Finished 33rd/Running, completed 405 of 408 laps)

RWR Points:

● Justin Haley (29th with 329 points)
● Note: Herbst is a fulltime driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and is not eligible for points in the NASCAR Cup Series.

RWR Notes:

● This was Haley’s eighth NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond. His best finish remains 21st, earned in August 2022.
● This was Herbst’s first NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond.

Race Notes:

● Austin Dillon won the Cook Out 400 to score his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Richmond. His margin of victory over second-place Denny Hamlin was .116 of a second.
● There were four caution periods for a total of 26 laps.
● Only 19 of the 37 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Richmond with a five-point advantage over second-place Tyler Reddick.

Sound Bites:

“Richmond is such a tough track, but our Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford Mustang Dark Horse was good enough to do what it needed to do.”– Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvements Ford Mustang Dark Horse

“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Richmond in the Xfinity Series, but the Cup Series is a whole different game. It took a while for me to really get a good idea of how the track was changing and what that was doing to the car. Things happen so quick that it’s hard to come back from a couple of laps down, but we ran every lap and that’s exactly what I needed to do in my first Cup race here.” – Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 15 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Firekeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, Aug. 18 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

NASCAR CUP SERIES
RICHMOND RACEWAY
COOK OUT 400
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
AUGUST 11, 2024

 Dillon Takes Win and Playoff Berth at Richmond Raceway

•  In a dramatic overtime finish, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1 team prevailed to claim the victory and a playoff berth in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway. The victory – his first on a short-track in NASCAR’s top division – marks Dillon’s fifth career victory in 396 career NASCAR Cup Series starts.
• Dillon delivered Chevrolet its series-leading 11th victory in 23 NASCAR Cup Series victories this season. The 34-year-old Welcome, North Carolina, native is the six driver from the third different Chevrolet organization to make a trip to victory lane in NASCAR’s top division this season.
• Dillon is the 18th different driver to take Chevrolet to victory lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway – extending the manufacturer’s series-leading win record to 41 all-time victories at the .75-mile Virginia short-track.
• Six drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations claimed top-10 results in the 400-lap event, with Richard Childress Racing’s Dillon leading Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in fourth and Daniel Suarez in 10th; Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson in seventh and Chase Elliott in ninth; and Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar in eighth.

TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10:
POS. DRIVER
1st Austin Dillon
5th Ross Chastain
7th Kyle Larson
8th Carson Hocevar
9th Chase Elliott
10th Daniel Suarez

WITH 23 NASCAR CUP SERIES RACES COMPLETE:
Wins: 11
Poles: 7
Top-Five Finishes: 41
Top-10 Finishes: 88
Stage Wins: 13

UP NEXT: The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Michigan International Speedway with the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, August 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

 
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:

Ross Chastain, No. 1 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Camaro ZL1

Finished: 5th

WHAT DID YOU SEE WHEN THE CURTAINS OPENED IN FRONT OF YOU?

“It’s so refreshing just to run in an average position all night with a ‘1’ in front of it. To finish with a single-digit result is so refreshing right now to have that for our No. 1 Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevy. We had a lot more pace and a lot more running position from where we have been. The car is still tight; it’s still loose. It’s not like we magically fixed anything, but we just had a lot more pace to do what we want to do and what we’ve been missing for a few months. The whole night, to drive to 11th in Stage One; run around there and be able to execute there late is great. We were going to run seventh with a set of red tires left, and it was killing me in the car that we were going to leave those in the pits, but we were able to put them on there at that green-white-checkered.”

“Congrats to Austin (Dillon), RCR and Chevrolet. That is big for our group and will make tomorrow’s meeting better that a Chevy won. I am happy for that, and everything else will work itself out. It’s simple math – if we just keep stacking together finishes and just pace like this, we will be just fine.”

YOUR THOUGHTS ON HOW THE RACE ENDED?

“I saw a bunch of craziness up there, but I am just happy for Austin. I know the work he puts in. For GM and Chevy and for what our Tech Center in Concord (NC) does, it’s really important to be winning races. To go win one like that, I am just happy I wasn’t in it and I wish I was up a few spots more to take advantage of it.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1

Finished: 1st

YOU ARE GETTING PELTED WITH MILKSHAKES HERE IN VICTORY LANE, HOW DOES THAT FEEL?

“That is a first, but it feels good when you get a win. After the season we had, the good Lord above just blessed us today. We had a fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy, and I hated to see that caution come out. I knew it was going to be wild and coming to the last corner, I just had to go for it. It was our opportunity; you don’t get many of those and that is what our partners, my family and RCR wants us to do, is to go and try to get a win. So, I just had to send it.”

Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

Finished: 30th

“Tough night at Richmond. Congrats to Austin [Dillon] and RCR on the win; it’s huge for alliance. We definitely need to regroup, but hopefully what we saw here tonight with the No. 3 car is going to help us in the future short tracks.”

Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Delaware Life Camaro ZL1

Finished: 8th

HOCEVAR ON HIS TOP-10 FINISH AT RICHMOND RACEWAY:

“The No. 77 Delaware Life Camaro ZL1 was pretty good. We didn’t qualify great, but we were able to get to the top-15 and then top-10 there on the long run. From where we were in the spring and where we have been on short tracks, this is huge for us. To run top-10 is pretty big and just to have a really good turnaround from almost high 20s to a single digit finish here is really big for the Delaware Life/Spire Chevrolet team.”

Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Choice Privileges Camaro ZL1

Finished: 10th

HOW WAS YOUR RACE TONIGHT?

“That was a fun race! These option tires, if NASCAR and the fans didn’t like it, I don’t know what they would like because they were amazing. The strategy played a huge role in what everyone was doing; what we were doing and everyone’s different agenda. It was fun. I enjoyed it and the No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevy was fast. The guys did an amazing job with the strategy. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out at the end, but we gave it a shot and we ended up with a 10th place finish.”

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE THAT MUCH FASTER THAN EVERYONE FOR THE LEAD?

“It was fun. It was like Mario Kart with a star.”

About Chevrolet

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

Austin Dillon Clinches Spot in the NASCAR Playoffs with Dominating Performance in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 1st
Start: 6th
Points: 26th

“We had a really strong Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet and it feels good to put the No. 3 Chevrolet back in Victory Lane. It’s been two years. This is the first car I’ve had with a shot to win. Crew Chief Justin Alexander made great strategy calls throughout the race, and we were leading by more than three seconds before the last caution flag came out. I felt like with two laps to go, we were the fastest car. We wrecked the guy to win. I hate to do that, but sometimes you just got to have it. We just never gave up. After the season we have had, the good Lord above just blessed us today. I just had to go for it. It was our opportunity. You don’t get many of those and that is what our partners, my family and RCR wants us to do, is to go and try to get a win. So, I just had to send it.” -Austin Dillon

Kyle Busch Claims Solid 12th-Place Finish in No. 8 Cheddar’s Patriotic Chevrolet at Richmond Raceway

Finish: 12th
Start: 12th
Points: 18th

“All in all, we had a respectable night in our Cheddar’s Patriotic Camaro at Richmond Raceway. The way the race played out there at the end we were able to unlap ourselves and pick up a few positions when the race went into overtime. Crew chief Randall Burnett and everyone on the Cheddar’s team did a good job with the strategy tonight and making the car better. It was a handful early on, but by the end of the race we were much better. Congrats to my teammate Austin Dillon on the victory. He was really good all weekend and took advantage of being in position to win tonight.” -Kyle Busch

TY DILLON

No. 16 Chevy Accessories Camaro ZL1

• Ty Dillon qualified 30th for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
• Dillon stayed quiet on the radio for the majority of stage one and lost two positions, before going a lap down with 16 laps remaining. He finished stage one in 32nd place.
• During the stage break, Dillon reported his drive off was good, however, the front of the No. 16 Chevrolet was tight. The No. 16 pitted for four tires, an air pressure adjustment and fuel. Dillon restarted stage two in 37th and one lap down, after getting a speeding penalty exiting pit road. In the opening laps of the second stage, Dillon reported his take off was better and gained four positions, while fighting for the free-pass position. The field began to cycle with different pit strategies between prime and option tires, allowing the No. 16 to climb as high as 27th during a long run. Dillon pitted on lap 143 for four tires and fuel, falling two laps down. As the race remained green, Dillon reported he was happy with the handling of the No. 16 Chevy. He finished stage two in 29th place and two laps down.
• During the final stage break, the No. 16 pitted for four tires, an air pressure adjustment, a rear wedge adjustment, and fuel. Dillon restarted the final stage in 30th place and two laps down. The No. 16 once again elected to run the opening of stage three long, climbing as high as 23rd, before pitting for fuel and its first set of opinion tires with 100 laps to go. With 49 laps remaining, Dillon again for fuel and his final set of option tires. The first and only caution of the day brought out overtime, allowing the No. 16 to take the wave and restart 26th. Dillon finished 26th, one lap down.

“Not exactly the race we wanted tonight, but we did everything in our power over a long race with no cautions. I’m really proud of our effort and feel like we executed where we needed to. I’m getting better every time I race with Kaulig Racing. P26, and we are on to the next.” – Ty Dillon  

DANIEL HEMRIC
No. 31 Cirkul Camaro ZL1

• Daniel Hemric qualified 32nd for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
• Starting the race on prime tires, Hemric radioed that by lap 20, he had lost front-end grip. On lap 36, crew chief Trent Owens told Hemric that he was steadily improving in turns one and two. Hemric went down a lap with 17 laps remaining, before finishing 35th in the first stage.
• During the first stage break, Hemric pitted for fresh prime tires, fuel and an adjustment to help him with grip in the No. 31 Cirkul Chevy. He started the second stage in 34th and one lap down to the leaders. Hemric made up four spots, before pitting for option tires on lap 119. By lap 151, Hemric radioed that he was once again losing front-end grip. He pitted on lap 161 for prime tires and went on to finish the second stage in 30th, two laps down to the leader.
• Hemric pitted for four prime tires and fuel during the second stage break and started the final stage from 29th place. On lap 242, Hemric radioed that the No. 31 Cirkul Chevy was extremely tight handling. He pitted on lap 281 for prime tires and fuel. As race stayed green, Hemric made his next scheduled, green-flag pit stop on lap 337 for prime tires. The only caution of the race came with just three laps remaining, sending the field into overtime. Hemric took the wave around, putting him just two laps down to the leader for the first overtime attempt. After restarting 30th, Hemric crossed the line in 30th.

“Tough night at Richmond. Congrats to Austin [Dillon] and RCR on the win; it’s huge for alliance. We definitely need to regroup, but hopefully what we saw here tonight with the No. 3 car is going to help us in the future short tracks.” – Daniel Hemric  
 
About Kaulig Racing

Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 23 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries, with a part-time fourth entry at select events. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.

THREE TOYOTAS IN TOP FOUR FINISHING POSITIONS IN RICHMOND
Reddick closes on the top spot in the standings, while Wallace moves inside the Playoff field

RICHMOND, Va. (August 11, 2024) – Denny Hamlin (second), Tyler Reddick (third) and Bubba Wallace (fourth) finished inside the top-five at Richmond Raceway on Sunday evening in a wild finish.

For Reddick, it was his fourth podium finish in the last five races and his ninth top-10 run in the last 10 races. Wallace’s strong run also vaulted him to inside the provisional Playoff field by three points with three races remaining.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Richmond Raceway
Race 23 of 36 – 400 Laps, 300 Miles

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Austin Dillon*

2nd, DENNY HAMLIN

3rd, TYLER REDDICK

4th, BUBBA WALLACE

5th, Ross Chastain*

6th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

22nd, TY GIBBS

29th, ERIK JONES

31st, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK

37th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

Was Austin Dillon’s move fair or foul?

“It’s obviously foul, but it is fair in NASCAR. It is a different league. There are no penalties for rough driving or anything like that, so it opens up the opportunity for Austin (Dillon) to just do whatever he wants. The problem that I have is I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my own business, and he turned left, and he hooked me in the right rear and blew my damn shoulder out. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened. He is going to be credited with a win. He is just not going to go far because you have to pay your dues back on stuff like that, but it is worth it because they jumped 20 positions in points, so I understand all that. There is no ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner, but I understand it. It doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. We will talk about it tomorrow.”

Do you feel like a line was crossed?

“Absolutely, a line was crossed, but it is an invisible line, and it is not defined. They have rules and provisions for stuff like this, but they never take action for it. What happens is you see young guys coming up in the short track ranks, seeing that, and they think it is fine. That is why we see some of the lower series turnout the way they do in these green-white checkered situations because some of the best that they are seeing on Sunday do stuff like that. Who am I to throw stones at a glass house, but I’ve certainly never won one that way.”

TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

What were your thoughts about the end of the race and your finish?

“Yeah, Joey (Logano) stole the words right from me. That’s exactly what that move is. Unbelievable. I understand the first one, I guess, on Joey, trying to win the race. I’ve been threatened to be suspended for right hooking people and they’ve always taken a pretty hard stand on that. I don’t know. Racing hard for the win is one thing. Just plainly right hooking somebody is another. That sounds pretty biased coming from me about my boss, but if I was in his spot, I would be pretty upset about it too. They put so much emphasis on winning races, people are going to lose their minds and just do ridiculous stuff. I’m happy for his team. A lot of great people on his team. That was pretty crazy.”

Does it feel like you picked up right where you left off?

“I don’t know. I feel like a year ago when we were here, we were really, really strong. We had pace capable of winning the race. The handling was there. Tonight, our handling wasn’t as great in our Mobil 1 Toyota Camry. We fought through it. We stayed in the mix. Billy Scott (crew chief) – everybody on this 45 team did a good job on strategy. Overall, a good night for 23XI. I know Bubba (Wallace) is hating the way that ended, because he has been working really, really hard to get above the bubble and the way that went down, he is back in the hole I think – oh wait, he is plus three, so he’s still in decent shape, but wild way to end the night.”

BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 5th

Can you evaluate your night and that last lap finish?

“We knew we had to work coming in here, obviously being below and our team did just that. We fought hard. We did not have the best day on pit road. Not from a lack of effort. I appreciate them getting better all night. They showed up when it mattered on the last stop – kept us in it. Just execution. Our Leidos Toyota Camry was way too loose. I tried to bite my tongue from the start of practice. It was a handful, and it definitely bit us in the race, but we kept making it better and better – trying to give the best feedback that I could. Just executed all night. I appreciate the effort from my team. Nice to walk out of here with a top-five finish. We have a long way to go. We just have to keep fighting. I guess you can dump somebody and right rear somebody and be okay. It’s funny how that works.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 37th

What happened?

“I don’t know. It started missing all of a sudden and losing power, so I came down pit road to check it out and it was on fire.”

Did it give you any indication?
“It hiccupped once going down the backstretch, and then it started missing. It’s like it broke a valve spring or something and then it kind of self-disintegrated, self-destructed really quickly. I don’t know. One of those them days.”

How chaotic was this race to keep up with all of the tire strategies?

“It really wasn’t. I think James (Small, crew chief) had the right strategy to put the tires on when he did. We just had an issue on pit road with the left rear coming off. We went from being one of the fastest cars on the track, to not having a very good car with a very small change. We just missed an adjustment race track wise, but we were still going to be okay. It is a shame. Last race here full time and it would have been nice to get another win.”

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