Denny Hamlin credits Austin Dillon, RCR with redemption win at Richmond: ‘Did it the right way’

One race can change your season. Austin Dillon entered Saturday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway 28th in the points standings; he left Richmond with an automatic playoff spot.

Dillon’s win was unexpected, but should it have been? He won this race last year — albeit in controversial fashion — and clearly had the right setup again this year. Denny Hamlin, whom Dillon intentionally right rear hooked on the final lap of last year’s race at Richmond resulting in NASCAR stripping him of his playoff eligibility, called this one a “well-earned victory.”

“Well-earned victory there by Austin and RCR and his whole team,” Hamlin said on his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Man, it was redemption in every single way. I just don’t know how else to put it other than he did it the right way, no controversy. They were trying to run him down at the end and just couldn’t quite get there.

“… I thought it was a great performance by the 3 team. They executed well, they picked up right where they left off, like even in practice I thought they were strong. So, they took whatever setup they had last year, refined it a little bit, and made it a little bit better and got a W.”

Austin Dillon is playoff bound

Dillon controlled the race throughout Stage 3 after passing Ryan Blaney and then getting the jump on him on tire strategy. Dillon led 107 laps total, the first time the No. 3 car has led 100 plus laps in a NASCAR Cup Series race since the 1998 Daytona 500 (Dale Earnhardt). Yes, this one was big for both Dillon and his grandfather, Richard Childress.

“[Crew chief] Richard Boswell, everybody at RCR, ECR — we just worked hard and I’m just so proud of that group,” Childress said after the race. “Every one of them has put so much in, and Austin was just dead set to come back here and try to go win this race like he had it won last year. I just kept holding my breath… when he took that white I took an easy breath.”

Dillon can finally celebrate the fact that he’s playoff bound. Earlier this week, he called last year’s win one of his favorites in his career. Dillon might have to move Saturday’s triumph near the top of the list.

“Man, that feels good,” Dillon told Marty Snider of NBC Sports. “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. I was thrown down a lot this week. Didn’t feel great. I’m actually racing with a broken rib right now for the last two weeks, and man, that was awesome.

“God has timing, and his timing is the best timing. I’m so excited to get my wife and kids here to celebrate with us. Man, it’s so sweet.”