What Happened?
A routine Richmond race quickly went sideways in overtime as Austin Dillon played bumper cars with Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to win Sunday’s (Aug. 11) Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Dillon snapped his 68-race winless streak in the Cup Series’ return from a two-week hiatus for the Olympics. Because the caution flew before the checkered, Hamlin was still credited with a second-place finish. Tyler Reddick wound up third, while bubble battlers Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
What Really Happened?
Well, this just opened up a can of worms.
Over the last two seasons, NASCAR has tightened up its officiating surrounding rough driving and intentionally wrecking people. This new precedent began when Wallace right hooked Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2022.
Carson Hocevar earned a two-lap penalty for attempting a right hook in the 2023 spring Martinsville Speedway Craftsman Truck Series race. A few months later, Chase Elliott served a suspension of his own for right hooking of Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speeedway.
While Corey Heim sought justice against Hocevar in the Truck Series’ championship race at Phoenix Raceway last fall, NASCAR slapped him with a fine and points penalty.
The Nashville Superspeedway weekend saw a double dish of penalties. The first rough driving penalty came in the truck race for Layne Riggs after he dumped Stefan Parsons. Hocevar was penalized again, this time in the Cup Series, for spinning Harrison Burton under caution. A week later, Wallace incurred another penalty for door slamming Alex Bowman on the Chicago cool down lap.
It might be time to set another precedent.
We can debate the ethics of Dillon’s dumping of Logano all we want. Overdriving a corner to hit someone is nothing new, and the Next Gen car requires pretty strong contact to move someone up the track.
Logano had every right to be upset because Dillon’s move on the No. 22 was definitely dirty. But what he did next was downright egregious.
After overdriving the corner, the No. 11 team saw their prediction come true. Unfortunately, their crystal ball didn’t include Dillon hooking Hamlin into the fence. For a split second, it did look like Hamlin drifted up a bit. But sliding up the track doesn’t hook a car like that — unless the driver on the outside is turning hard to the left. Team audio also confirms the intent.
We’ve seen NASCAR tighten up its officiating in recent years trying to preserve its wild, chaotic playoff format. Teams and drivers who violate its integrity tend to earn harsh penalties more often than not.
If NASCAR follows precedent, this right hook is just like the two that have come before it. The difference is that the other offenders took themselves out, while Dillon won the race.
I hate to say it, but if NASCAR issues a penalty to the No. 3, it should absolutely include stripping Dillon of the win. And if they don’t issue any penalty?
Hold on to your hats.
Who Stood Out?
This harsh line on Dillon hurts, because he absolutely stood out over the field as the evening turned to night. Dillon drove past Logano — twice — and worked ultra hard on passing Hamlin cleanly. He rightfully put himself in position to win, yet another late-race caution ruined a great, natural finish and created another round of controversies.
Hocevar caught a side of shade earlier in the article from his past incidents, but he quietly tied his career high with an eighth-place finish. The No. 77 again showed some legit speed, and Hocevar finished right in the middle of two Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets to solidify a solid run.
Another standout throughout the evening was Daniel Suarez. That whole No. 99 team deserves credit for playing an alternate strategy that made things interesting and showcased the variety in the two tire compounds. Things looked bleak for Suarez when he dropped like a rock on the primary tires at the start of stage three, but he made a hero drive back through the field before the overtime shook him out in 10th.
Who Fell Flat?
For the third consecutive race, another Joe Gibbs Racing engine fell flat, this time for the No. 19. Martin Truex Jr. showed strength at Richmond late in his career. Unfortunately, his final Richmond race as a full-time driver came to a premature end with a blown engine.
The Hendrick Chevrolets struggled throughout the weekend, especially the No. 48. Bowman simply could not find any speed, and he finished two laps down in 28th.
Better Than Last Time?
Multiple tire compound options are not the one way forward, but they did provide some interesting kinks and hopefully gave Goodyear a path to creating softer tires.
Outside Suarez showing off his option tires early and a few teams taking a set in stage two, the top teams mostly mirrored each other’s strategies throughout the race. The fun with option tires comes when teams differentiate their strategies to create comers and goers. That doesn’t happen when everybody takes the tires at the same time.
Still, when the leaders had the red sets on at the same time, there did seem to be some guys who made the softer tires last longer while other drivers used the speed up a little quicker. Goodyear hopefully has a great read on what these softer tires can do and how long they can last.
Call me starved for racing after two weeks off, but the racing all night was enjoyable, with plenty of natural battles even without the cautions. The race was nearly a perfect way to return from the Olympics.
Paint Scheme of the Race
Maybe it’s not the flashiest paint scheme, but Jockey’s promotion of its Infinite Cool Underwear definitely made the funniest and most creative scheme of the race. The scheme was definitely recognizable, with the outline of Chastain wearing nothing but his Jockey underwear on the inside.
What’s Next?
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan on Sunday, Aug. 18 for the FireKeepers Casino 400. The race will air on USA Network at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Caleb began sports writing in 2023 with The Liberty Champion, where he officially covered his first NASCAR race at Richmond in the spring. While there, Caleb met some of the guys from Frontstretch, and he joined the video editing team after graduating from Liberty University with degrees in Strategic Communications and Sports Journalism. Caleb currently work full-time as a Multi-Media Journalist with LEX 18 News in Lexington, Kentucky and contributes to Frontstretch with writing and video editing. He's also behind-the-scenes or on camera for the Happy Hour Podcast, live every Tuesday night at 7:30!