{"id":40058,"date":"2022-08-28T22:14:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T03:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=40058"},"modified":"2022-08-28T22:14:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T03:14:32","slug":"austin-dillon-grabs-nascar-cup-playoff-spot-with-dramatic-daytona-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/28\/austin-dillon-grabs-nascar-cup-playoff-spot-with-dramatic-daytona-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Dillon grabs NASCAR Cup Playoff spot with dramatic Daytona win"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 With a huge assist from Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick after a rain delay of more than three hours, Austin Dillon forced his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff and broke Martin Truex Jr.\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Dillon\u2019s victory in Sunday\u2019s rain-delayed Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway\u2014his first of the season and his second at the track\u2014needed the convergence of several different circumstances to fall into place. <\/p>\n

After avoiding serious damage in a wreck off Turn 4 on lap 125, Dillon survived a subsequent 13-car melee in Turn 1 and took the lead before rain halted the race. After a red-flag period of 3 hours, 19 minutes, 57 seconds, Dillon fell behind 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric and trailed him from the restart on Lap 145 of 160 until he made the race-winning move on Lap 158.<\/p>\n

As the cars reached Turn 1, Dillon tapped Cindric\u2019s No. 2 Team Penske Ford, and the Chevrolets of Dillon, Reddick and Landon Cassill moved past as Cindric made a magnificent save on the apron. Reddick, the race runner-up, closed up to the bumper of Dillon\u2019s No. 3 Chevrolet and drafted with his teammate to the finish line, holding off a last-ditch run from Cindric, who finished third, just .140 seconds behind the winner.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Pit crew member, Paul Swan embraces Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThere was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white (final lap), I was afraid somebody would\u2014if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a big run to him, and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him (Cindric) loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cindric said the bump was fair game, give what was on the line for Dillon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s fair game any race of the season, but that meant a lot for him to win that race,\u201d Cindric told Fox Sports\u2019 Bob Pockrass on pit road. \u201cHe had three cars that were certainly going to be able to work with him\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"

Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 A SHOC Chevrolet, Harrison Burton, driver of the #21 Dex Imaging Ford, Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, and Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Meg Oliphant\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI feel like he got the run too late, and then he hit me straight on the entry to the corner. Just glad I saved it, glad I got a shot to still come back up through the field\u2014but I hate losing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dillon\u2019s victory knocked Truex out of the Playoff and handed the final berth to Ryan Blaney, who finished three points ahead of Truex in the final regular-season standings. <\/p>\n

When heavy rain stopped the action 21 laps from the finish, it looked as if Dillon might be awarded the victory. <\/p>\n

As the cars sped toward Turn 1 on Lap 138, a sudden rain began to fall. The cars of Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric and Denny Hamlin broke loose at the front of the field, and the cars behind them were unable to stop on the slick asphalt and plowed into the wreck.<\/p>\n

Dillon\u2019s No. 3 Chevrolet, which had been damaged in a wreck off Turn 4 on Lap 125\u2014and ended its slide facing backward on pit road\u2014was the first to emerge from the Lap 138 chaos at cautious pace and shortly thereafter was confirmed as the race leader by NASCAR.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Dark clouds are seen during the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe ran into rain in the middle of Turn 1 and just lost it,\u201d Hamlin said of the 13-car pileup. \u201cWe had rain down the front. So about 10 seconds before we got into Turn 1, it was raining. I\u2019m sure the fans felt it, and then they watched us all pile in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASCAR opted to wait out the rain, dried the track and lifted the red flag at 3:54 p.m. The resumption didn\u2019t change the winner, but it enabled Blaney to move up the leaderboard past wrecked cars to a 15th-place finish, enough to eliminate eight-place finisher Truex from the Playoff.<\/p>\n

Cassill came home fourth, followed by Noah Gragson, as only 10 drivers finished on the lead lap, and only 17 were running at the end.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 A SHOC Chevrolet, and Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, lead the field on a pace lap prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Early in the race, Blaney got a serious scare, as far as his Playoff hopes were concerned. On Lap 31,  Blaney\u2019s No. 12 Team Penske Ford was third in line in the bottom lane behind Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin when Jones\u2019 No. 43 Petty GMS Chevrolet got loose and lost momentum off Turn 2.<\/p>\n

Blaney slammed into the back of Hamlin\u2019s Toyota, turning the No. 11 Camry toward the infield. As the bottom lane compressed, Christopher Bell\u2019s No. 20 Toyota spun behind Blaney, shot across the track and knocked Blaney\u2019s Mustang into the outside wall, severely damaging the right-front quarter of Blaney\u2019s car.<\/p>\n

The eight-car accident knocked Bell and Brad Keselowski out of the race, denying Keselowski a Playoff spot for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, and the 2022 Regular Season Champion poses with the trophy at the 1948 Club prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 27, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSomebody wrecked in front of me,\u201d Keselowski said. \u201cI\u2019m not really sure exactly what happened, but there were just a bunch of cars wrecking in front of me. I didn\u2019t have anywhere to go and couldn\u2019t slow down in time, so I hate it for our team.” <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a really fast race car. We were working our way to the front.\u201d <\/p>\n

Truex earned six points with a fifth-place finish in Stage 1 and raced to a runner-up result in Stage 2, good for nine points, as Blaney continued to lose laps to the lead pack. The first two stages reduced Blaney\u2019s lead over Truex in the standings to 10 points, but a wreck on the backstretch early in the final stage halted Truex\u2019s charge.<\/p>\n

On Lap 102, Michael McDowell, running second, pulled out of line with a run on leader Joey Logano, but Reddick\u2019s off-center hit to McDowell\u2019s back bumper sent the No. 34 Ford rocketing into the outside wall. The contact ignited an eight-car melee that eliminated the machines of McDowell, Ross Chastain and William Byron.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, pits during the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The wreck ended the Playoff hopes for McDowell, who had restarted in the lead on Lap 101. Truex\u2019s car was damaged, too, but not terminally. Ultimately, though, it was the damage in that wreck that kept the 2017 series champion from maintaining a gap over Blaney sufficient to earn the final Playoff spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat’s definitely a lot more stressful than I wanted coming into here, but I just got to give a lot of props to the 12 group, you know, for fixing it and sticking with it all day,\u201d Blaney said. \u201cThat’s why you do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour day can start off like that, and you just stay with it and stay in the game. And it was definitely beneficial for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

NCS Race Winner Austin Dillon (No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet) – <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Team Owner Richard Childress and Crew Chief Justin Alexander – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/ChildressAlexander082822.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 64th Annual Coke Zero Sugar 400<\/b><\/p>\n

Daytona International Speedway<\/b><\/div>\n

Daytona Beach, Florida<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, August 27, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (21)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

                2. (6)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

                3. (14)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

                4. (35)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

                5. (37)  Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 160.<\/p>\n

                6. (33)  Cody Ware, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

                7. (36)  BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

                8. (13)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

                9. (34)  David Ragan, Ford, 160.<\/p>\n

                10. (22)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 160.<\/p>\n

                11. (30)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 159.<\/p>\n

                12. (3)  Joey Logano, Ford, 158.<\/p>\n

                13. (23)  Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 158.<\/p>\n

                14. (10)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 156.<\/p>\n

                15. (16)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 154.<\/p>\n

                16. (15)  Cole Custer, Ford, 153.<\/p>\n

                17. (11)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, DVP, 148.<\/p>\n

                18. (25)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Accident, 144.<\/p>\n

                19. (29)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, DVP, 140.<\/p>\n

                20. (7)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 139.<\/p>\n

                21. (27)  Aric Almirola, Ford, Accident, 138.<\/p>\n

                22. (20)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 138.<\/p>\n

                23. (32)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 138.<\/p>\n

                24. (4)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                25. (19)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                26. (28)  Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                27. (8)  Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                28. (18)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                29. (2)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, Accident, 137.<\/p>\n

                30. (31)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 137.<\/p>\n

                31. (26)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, Accident, 124.<\/p>\n

                32. (9)  Michael McDowell, Ford, Accident, 101.<\/p>\n

                33. (12)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 101.<\/p>\n

                34. (17)  William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 101.<\/p>\n

                35. (24)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, DVP, 31.<\/p>\n

                36. (5)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 30.<\/p>\n

                37. (1)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Engine, 14.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  138.942 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 52 Mins, 44 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.128 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  7 for 30 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  39 among 19 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson 0;C. Elliott 1-21;E. Jones 22-23;C. Elliott 24-26;E. Jones 27-30;C. Elliott 31-34;J. Logano 35-36;C. LaJoie 37-40;B. Wallace 41-42;E. Jones 43;C. LaJoie 44-45;E. Jones 46-50;C. Buescher 51;E. Jones 52-58;W. Byron 59;E. Jones 60-62;A. Bowman 63;D. Hamlin 64-76;J. Logano 77-78;B. McLeod(i) 79-80;C. Elliott 81;T. Reddick 82-85;C. Elliott 86-87;K. Busch 88-89;T. Reddick 90-91;K. Busch 92-96;M. Truex Jr. 97;T. Dillon 98;M. McDowell 99-100;J. Logano 101-106;T. Reddick 107-108;J. Logano 109;T. Reddick 110-114;A. Bowman 115-124;J. Logano 125-127;J. Haley 128-135;D. Suarez 136-137;A. Dillon 138-144;A. Cindric # 145-157;A. Dillon 158-160.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Chase Elliott 5 times for 31 laps; Erik Jones 6 times for 22 laps; Joey Logano 5 times for 14 laps; Austin Cindric # 1 time for 13 laps; Tyler Reddick 4 times for 13 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 13 laps; Alex Bowman 2 times for 11 laps; Austin Dillon 2 times for 10 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 8 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 7 laps; Corey LaJoie 2 times for 6 laps; BJ McLeod(i) 1 time for 2 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 2 laps; Michael McDowell 1 time for 2 laps; Daniel Suarez 1 time for 2 laps; Ty Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; Chris Buescher 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron 1 time for 1 lap.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,9,21,18,19,7,23,47,43,34<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,19,11,22,23,38,8,4,47,3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \u2013 With a huge assist from Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick after a rain delay of more than three hours, Austin Dillon forced his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff and broke Martin Truex Jr.\u2019s heart. Dillon\u2019s victory in Sunday\u2019s rain-delayed Coke Zero […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":40044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[322,287,16],"class_list":["post-40058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-austin-dillon","tag-daytona-international-speedway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1418855268-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-aq6","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40058"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40063,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058\/revisions\/40063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}