With two races to go in the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season, the greatest drivers in the world made their annual stop at Richmond Raceway for some hard-nosed, Saturday night short track racing. There were a lot of interesting stories heading into tonight’s race. Hometown boy, Denny Hamlin, came into tonight’s race tied with SVG for the most wins of the year at four. He has won at his home track on five different occasions, including the spring race last year. Could the hometown hero get the job done? Meanwhile, the regular season is starting to come to a close. This makes for a lot of desperate drivers below the postseason cutline. Did we see a repeat of what happened last year, with Austin Dillon dumping the two winners to win?
Let’s break all of that down and more. Here’s everything that happened in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway.
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During the first cycle of green flag pit stops in the closing stage, Bubba Wallace had an issue. Before the front left tire changer could get the lug tightened, the jackman dropped the jack and Wallace drove off with a loose tire. That was a bad situation from the jump but he didn’t make matters worse. Promptly, he stopped in Chase Briscoe’s pit box. The two being Toyota teammates, the 19 crew was allowed to service the car. It cost Bubba a lot of time and perhaps the win but that was good thinking on the part of the No. 23 Toyota.
During this cycle, Carson Hocevar pitted early. This was a different strategy that could potentially put him in winning contention when the field cycled through. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney assumed the lead. Right behind him was the star of the third stage of this race, defending race winner Austin Dillon.
On a three-stop strategy, Carson Hocevar had several mishaps on pit road that ultimately took him out of contention and ruled his altered strategy null and void. Once everything cycled through for the final stretch, Austin Dillon was able to leapfrog Blaney on pit road. This put the No. 3 firmly in the lead. And Dillon had a significantly better car in the closing laps of the race as he was able to extend his lead over Blaney.
As we got 10 inside 10 laps to go, Alex Bowman’s car came to life. He started to make a run on the leader, closing the gap little by little. However, lapped traffic slowed him up and kept him a safe distance away from the No. 3. Austin Dillon went on to do it again. He won at Richmond, punching his ticket to the Playoffs and, this time, he’ll get to keep it.
To start the race, polesitter Ryan Preece looked to have the strongest car. He led the race and paced the field until around the halfway mark when the strategy split. A number of drivers opted to pit, splitting stage in half. Meanwhile, others stayed out, saving an extra set of tires for a potential late-race overtime. Eventually, the drivers who stayed out faltered due to the immense amount of tire wear. His car becoming increasingly difficult to drive, Preece fell outside the top 10. Despite leading a majority of the stage, he earned no stage points. This relinquished the lead to the Toyotas of Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin.
Reddick went on to score the stage win. This was a big step toward clinching a spot in the Playoffs on points, as the other bubble drivers received zero stage points.
During the stage break, Denny Hamlin had a slow stop on pit road. As a result, he was clocked speeding while he was trying to make up time. He had to restart the race in the back. Meanwhile, his driver, Bubba Wallace, won the race off pit road. The No. 23 Toyota assumed the lead, and he maintained it as we went back green. Behind him were Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick.
After a cycle of green flag pit stops, Tyler Reddick assumed the race lead with Bubba dropping down to second. Reddick continued to lead but, with the massive amount of tire falloff, cars started to pit once again for fresh Goodyear rubber. This put included Reddick, he rejoined the track amidst a lot of traffic. On fresher tires than Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez, Reddick went wide to pass. But, Daniel Suarez tagged Gibbs from behind. This sent the No. 54 Toyota into Reddick, sending the No. 45 around. This was our first caution of the night for an on-track incident.
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who had yet to pit, cycled to the race lead. This caution was very timely for the No. 5 team as they didn’t have to pit under green flag conditions. Once Larson pitted under caution, Bubba Wallace once again cycled to the lead. Suarez, Logano, Blaney, and Cindric restarted behind him. Wallace cleared for the lead, but they only got to run a handful of laps before we got another caution. This was due to John Hunter Nemechek spinning out Cody Ware.
The caution came out yet again following a massive pile-up in turns 3 and 4, which collected a lot of race heavy hitters. The incident was sparked when Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain got together. As they tried to save their cars, Kyle Busch tagged Chase Briscoe from behind. This sent Briscoe up the track, causing a big wreck. As Chase Elliott tried to sneak through, Busch tagged him as well. This sent the No. 9 Chevy hard into the outside wall, ending his day. Check it out.
Just past the halfway mark, the race restarted and ran through to the end. Bubba Wallace went on to win the stage, without much contest. This makes for a clean sweep for the 23XI cars.
Despite a pit road incident that took him out of contention, Bubba Wallace clocked the Xfinity Fastest Lap tonight during Stage 2. This was with a lap time of 22.96. This awards Wallace a bonus point for scoring the fastest lap of the race.
The following race results were how the field crossed the line in the 2025 stop at Richmond Raceway. The list will be updated following post-race inspection when the results become official.
The following list of drivers have clinched Playoff berths by securing wins in the regular season. They are listed in their seeding order.
*Note: William Byron’s name is depicted in bold because he clinched the Regular Season Championship
Tonight, Tyler Reddick clinched a Playoff berth on points. Unofficially, he will be the 15th seed heading into the 2025 postseason. This leaves only one spot open heading into Daytona.
Below are the drivers who are currently in on points. Tyler Reddick clinched a Playoff berth tonight on points. So, the battle to make the 2025 NASCAR Playoffs is between the following drivers and all of those below the cutline.
These drivers are currently out of the Playoffs based on points. Most of these drivers need to win in order to make the postseason. They are:
Of these drivers, Chris Buescher is the only driver who can mathematically point his way in next week. But, for the most part, all four of these drivers on the outside looking in will likely have to win next week at Daytona.
Though a 12th-place finish is far from ideal, William Byron can rest easy heading into the wildcard that is Daytona as he locked up the regular season title tonight. This awards him 15 bonus points heading into the postseason.
A year after his controversial win, Austin Dillon is once again standing tall. What did you think of this race, Daily Downforce readers? What do you think of Dillon’s win? How about the Playoff picture heading into Daytona? Let us know what you’re thinking! Join the discussion on Discord or X, and remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for more updates.
And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com for the latest news fresh from the NASCAR Race Hub as we gear up for the regular season finale in Daytona.
