The Cup Series made its second trip to Richmond in 2023 for the Cook-Out 400. Chris Buescher took home the checkered flag for RFK Racing collecting his third career win and first of the season. The Prosper, Texas native becomes the 12th driver locked in the playoffs, and 13th unique winner of the season.
A late Daniel Suarez spin with under 10 laps to go set up a chaotic restart, but Buescher held the lead and defended against Denny Hamlin to score the win.
The #17 team executed on pit road all afternoon, which set up a final stage pass for the lead on Martin Truex Jr and kept Buescher out front after the unexpected yellow.
In addition to Buescher’s 88 laps led, this is the organization’s first win at Richmond since Carl Edwards won at the Virginia short track in September of 2013.
Buescher’s teammate and car owner Brad Keselowski added on 102 laps led of his own and added a sixth-place finish in a refreshingly dominant day for the Ford camp.
While RFK headlined the weekend, the class of the field early on in today’s race were the Toyotas– notably 23XI Racing and Denny Hamlin, the co-owner of 23XI. Tyler Reddick qualified on pole, as Hamlin started third, and Bubba Wallace began the race in fifth.
Wallace went on to finish 12th, but led a single-race career-high of 80 laps, and Reddick led his first ever laps on a short track with 81. The two combined for 161 out front, which is the most ever in one race for 23XI as an organization.
Hamlin also had a strong run at the end, but didn’t have enough to catch up to Buescher. He came home with a third-place finish and zero new rivalries.
Late in the going, Kyle Larson, who was a lap down, found himself moving through the field on fresh tires and behind Hamlin’s #11 car. Usually level-headed, we saw Larson enact a sort of retaliatory bump as he muscled his way past Hamlin.
Leaving Richmond with momentum is Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering the weekend with three drivers 25th or worse in points, all four entries finished 11th or better, notably Ryan Preece in 5th.
In addition to SHR, Ford as a manufacturer had a solid outing headlined by RFK.
Another surprise finish came from Austin Dillon in 9th, who had a rebounding weekend after qualifying 17th.
One of the biggest shake-ups came from the playoff cutline, as Bubba Wallace surges ahead 54 points above the cut line. Right behind is Michael McDowell who remains in 16th, but lost a sample size of ground after finishing 22nd, is now 18 points to the good.
One of the biggest gainers on the day was Ty Gibbs, who collected three stage points for Joe Gibbs Racing. The 20-year-old finished 15th, and is now 17th in the standings, 18 points behind McDowell.
A.J. Allmendinger, after opting not to practice or qualify in Saturday’s on-track activities to run the Xfinity Series race in Road America, is 18th in points down 22 to the cut line.
In one of his worst weekends of the season, Daniel Suarez finished 33rd. The #99 team was a sitting duck for 400 laps, not gaining any positions from where they qualified, which only digs a bigger hole with four races left. The team sits 19th in points, but only 34 back of McDowell.
As the clock is ticking, Chase Elliott continues to perform with the cut line watch becoming even more dicy. Elliott qualified fourth, and finished 13th. Stage points were a big positive for the #9 team, as a win is becoming the likely scenario to make the playoffs, but to leave with seven stage points helps, now 20th in the standings, just 40 points behind.
Whenever coming to Richmond Raceway, fans, drivers, and teams know what to expect– traditional and old-fashioned short track racing.
Although a strategic and hard racing short track is good for the sport, the debate of the Cup Series having two dates at the track has become a topic.
That conversation shouldn’t take away from the racing we saw this afternoon, which featured a new winner joining the playoff race for the first time since Nashville, but for the 2024 schedule, that conversation needs to be had.
Richmond is a track of its own character, showing how capitalizing on all cylinders is essential, but perhaps just once a year would be beneficial.
This would allow perhaps another track not on the current schedule to be added, or give a more popular track a second date.
The Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway with just four races left until the playoffs.
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The Slow Restart 