NASCAR
NCS Race Recap: Austin Dillon erases last year’s heartbreak, punches ticket to Playoffs
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
RICHMOND, VA (August 17, 2025) – Austin Dillon claimed his sixth career NASCAR Cup Series race trophy, earned a 2025 Playoff bid and just as importantly, he enjoyed some sweet redemption in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Dillon led 107 laps on the night, including the final 49 to claim the victory and automatic berth in the 16-driver Playoff field – vaulting from a 25th place position in the championship standings before the green flag to a championship berth at the checkered flag in a clutch effort from the 2018 Daytona 500 winner and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team.
It was the most laps Dillon had led all season and marks the third time he’s won a race in the closing weeks of the regular season.
It was a huge statement for Dillon, 35, who won this race last year, but was later ruled ineligible to participate in the Playoffs after receiving a penalty from NASCAR for aggressive driving in the final laps at the historic three-quarter mile Richmond track.
“Man, that feels good, got to thank the good Lord above,” said Dillon, who finished a healthy 2.471-seconds ahead of Playoff contender, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who leaves Richmond now holding the last championship points position with one regular season race remaining next week at the always-unpredictable Daytona International Speedway.
“I really wanted that one,” Dillon said after an emotional hug from his brother Ty, who finished 18th on Saturday. “Last year hurt really bad just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond.
“God has timing. His timing is the best timing. … It’s just so special. Every one of these means so much to me. My grandfather [NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress], for all that he’s put up in believing in me, because there’s been a lot of ups and downs, could have been easy for him to change the drivers in this 3-car. Today it feels really darn good.”
While encouraged with his strong showing, the runner-up Bowman was also frustrated that lapped traffic in the closing laps impeded him from making more of a final run at Dillon. He now sits in the final Playoff transfer position by 29 points over Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher.
“A couple favors,” Bowman responded when asked what more he needed to be able to contend with Dillon. “I sure complained about it on the radio, but that’s just part of what we do, so…Vented a little bit, but had a really good Ally-48 [car] in the last run. Just broke the tires off too much in lap traffic. Didn’t get any breaks. That made me kind of work the rears harder than I need to.
“Just need to be a little better through there to get to him. I certainly think we had the better car. Unfortunately, didn’t get there. [Crew chief] Blake [Harris] and all the guys did a great job. Just came up a little bit short.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron formally clinched the Regular Season Championship with his 12th-place finish – a huge upward swing in momentum considering he was collected in the race’s only major incident, a 10-car crash on lap 199 of the 200-lap race. He said his No. 24 Chevrolet suffered only some light splitter damage in the incident and was able to regain track position steadily through the night.
“We had honestly some really good runs tonight,” said Byron, who claimed his second consecutive Daytona 500 win in this year’s season-opener and has led the points standings for 20 of the first 25 weeks of the season.
“Feels great. Really the best 12th place finish I’ve ever had. We came. In here and just did a solid job. We qualified solid, but this is definitely our toughest race track. We had a solid plan and executed and it feels good. This team has worked hard.”
A Team Penske Ford Mustang trio rounded out the top-five finishing positions. Ryan Blaney, the 2023 series champion was third in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford – the first time in his stellar career he’s had a top-five run at Richmond. His teammate, reigning series champion Joey Logano turned in an impressive fourth-place finish in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford after starting last (38th) in the field. And Austin Cindric completed the impressive team effort in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang.
“I always look at different ways to get around here every time I come back,” Penske said of the Richmond oval. “I don’t think it’s a secret. I struggle really bad here. We work really hard to try to figure out how can we improve, like how can I improve, how can we work on the car to figure out what will mesh.
“Just a big effort by all the 12 boys, big group effort. Definitely think we’re creeping up on it. Hopefully we can keep going.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry – a Penske partner team, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski and the hometown favorite, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.
If there is no new winner at Daytona next week, both 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Bowman stand to transfer into the Playoffs on points. Reddick, who won the opening stage and led 41 laps early finished 34th, four laps down after his car was hit in tight racing. He is 15th in the Playoff standings, with a 60-point edge above the Playoff cutoff line while Bowman is 16th – 29 points to the good.
Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, who won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three weeks ago, led a race best 123 laps and won the second stage, but a pit road mishap derailed his run up front. He finished 28th, two laps down.
Byron’s Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott – Byron’s closest challenger for the Regular Season Championship title and the 15 Playoff bonus points payday – was involved in a 10-car accident mid-race and suffered his first DNF of the season.
“It’s just unfortunate, we had a good start to the race,” said Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “We kind of got on the wrong end there in the beginning and lost some track position. We got behind the No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) and got a penalty. I thought we were in a pretty good spot right there. We finally got on some better tires and we were making our way through there well, so I was excited to see where that was going to go, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance.”
The incident and Elliott’s 38th-place finish coupled with Byron’s 12th-place run sealed the title for Byron.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Saturday night under the lights at the iconic Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Harrison Burton is the defending race winner. Five of the last seven winners of this race were celebrating their first win of the year.
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
AVONDALE, AZ (October 18, 2026) — Last November at Phoenix Raceway, Jesse Love won the NASCAR O’Reilly Series championship.
On Saturday at the same one-mile track, he may have done it again with a victory in the Timberland PRO 200.
Unlike last year, however, there are three races left in the O’Reilly Series Chase, run under a new nine-race format this season. But with his second win at Phoenix, his second this season and the fifth of his career, Love established himself as the convincing frontrunner for the series title.
In a race that spelled disaster for former Chase leader Sheldon Creed, Love opened a 36-point lead over second-place Justin Allgaier, who finished third. Fourth-place finisher Corey Day is 39 points behind in third, with Creed falling to fourth in the standings, 59 points back, after finishing 32nd, two laps down.
“I would say it’s a day we prepared for, not just dreamed of,” Love said after climbing from his car. “I’ve got a great group around me, just preparing me to be in these situations, to be calm, cool and collected.
“I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes that allow me to execute at a high-level at a track like this. I’ve been here, it feels like, a million times… Grateful to the fans for coming out. It’s my favorite race track. I love coming to Arizona—I’m a West Coast kid.”
The 21-year-old from Clovis, California, swept the first and second stages and led 156 of 200 laps, scoring 75 points for his efforts—one short of the maximum. The statistics, however, don’t tell the story. Over the final 35-lap green-flag run, race runner-up Sam Mayer hounded the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet all the way to the finish line.
Gaining ground over the final two laps, Mayer got to Love’s bumper off the final corner but finished 0.128 seconds behind the race winner. Mayer’s effort was all the more spectacular, given that his No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet started the race from the rear of the field after an engine change.
“Hats off to them, man,” Love said. “The 41 team did a great job coming from the back and making their car better. Honestly, it felt like they were a little better than we were at the end. I was having to just drive a lot over the tire to make any sort of lap time.
“I’m just grateful to be in a situation to win races. I’ve got a great pit crew who just maul everybody on pit road every week. It makes my job a lot easier. I’m really proud of the whole group.”
Mayer, who remained sixth in the Chase standings, 86 points behind Love, knew he had narrowly missed an important opportunity.
“Good job to him (Love)—he drove a great race,” Mayer said. “We definitely pressured him the whole time. It came down to making a mistake or not, and he executed really well. Really close…
“The Hendrick Engine shop brought a really good engine for us—two of them, technically I guess, ‘cause we blew one up. I haven’t had fun this year like that. That was just a lot of fun. It was just great racing, and hopefully we put on a show for everyone at home.
“That’s some pretty big championship implications if we could have won that one. I’m looking at the numbers right here, and they look pretty ugly for the old 41 and, honestly, the 00 (Creed), too.”
Creed, who entered the race with a two-point Chase lead, finished second to Love in the first stage with no idea what was about to happen to his car. During the caution for the stage break, a “kill switch” malfunction shut off the engine of his Chevrolet, and Creed lost three laps on pit road as his crew tried to get the car to refire.
It was only through attrition that Creed climbed from 37th to 32nd at the finish.
Sammy Smith finished fifth, followed by Brandon Jones, who lost a lap early after a move to wet tires during a brief shower in the first stage. Dean Thompson, William Sawalich, Rajah Caruth and Carson Kvapil finished seventh through 10th, respectively.
Next up for the O’Reilly Series drivers is The Progress Group 250 on Oct. 24 at Talladega Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
AVONDALE, AZ (October 16, 2026) — At the track where Corey Heim secured the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series title in the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota last year, Kaden Honeycutt took a giant step toward this season’s championship in the same ride.
Taking control of the race in the third stage at Phoenix Raceway, thanks in no small part to a flawless effort from his pit crew, Honeycutt cruised to victory in Friday’s Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 Powered by POET and expanded his Chase lead to 39 points over second-place Layne Riggs, who finished third.
Honeycutt led a race-high 53 laps—all during the final green-flag run—and beat a frustrated Christian Eckes to the finish line by 1.556 seconds to record his first win at Phoenix and the fourth of his career, all accomplished this season.
Second out of the pits on the final stop at the second stage break—and first among the Chase contenders—Honeycutt quickly dispatched Stewart Friesen, who had taken two tires on the stop and jumped 12 positions into a short-lived lead.
After seizing the top spot on the Lap 99 restart, the 23-year-old from Willow Park, Texas, remained out front the rest of the way. His victory also was the 39th in the series for crew chief Scott Zipadelli, who is now five wins shy of Eric Phillips’ all-time lead.
“My pit crew—they did a great job,” Honeycutt asserted. “I give them so much credit because they’re so damn good. I’m so fortunate to be able to drive these things. They spend all their hours in the day just for me to drive ‘em, and I can’t be more grateful for them.
“In Stage 1, I just struggled. I just didn’t have good rear grip at the start of that first stage. Scott went to work for me. He was never concerned. He kept me locked in the whole time.”
Riggs led the first 43 laps from the pole before Ty Majeski passed him with two circuits left in the first stage. Majeski scored his second stage win of the season and went on to sweep the stages at Phoenix and lead 49 laps before finishing fourth.
Riggs passed Majeski for the third position on Lap 104 of 150 but that was as far as he could advance.
“I’ve got to congratulate the 11 guys—they had a really good truck tonight,” Riggs said. “Obviously, they won the championship here with Corey last year, and they’ve got a really good package for Phoenix.
“It just wasn’t our night… We’ve got Talladega next week. You don’t know what’s going to happen there. Obviously, we’re running up front every single race, kind of a back-and-forth battle right now. Tonight, just wasn’t our night. I’m not going to hang my head on it, and I’m really proud of the effort by the team.”
Seeking his first victory of the season, Eckes couldn’t get close enough to Honeycutt to make a move during the final run.
“It still feels great to contend, but, man, it sucks, for sure,” said Eckes, who has finished second in the No. 91 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet for three straight races. “I came back here (to the Truck Series) to win, and we haven’t done that yet.
“We’re bringing race trucks that are just close enough to contend, but just kind of missing one or two things (compared with) the 11 (Honeycutt) and 34 (Riggs) right now.”
Eckes climbed to third in the standings with the runner-up finish, but he’s 112 points behind Honeycutt with three races left.
Jake Garcia finished fifth, followed by William Sawalich, Daniel Hemric, Gio Ruggiero, Grant Enfinger and Brent Crews.
Chandler Smith, Riggs’ Front Row Motorsports teammate, drew a pit road penalty for too many men over the wall and finished 15th. He fell one spot to fourth in the Chase standings, 117 points out of the lead.
The race featured two cautions for 16 laps, with the second yellow for debris in Turn 1 coinciding with the Stage 2 break. There were six lead changes among five drivers.
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase continues next Friday with the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway (4 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
KANSAS CITY, KS (September 26, 2026) – On a near-perfect day—with the weather a notable exception—Kaden Honeycutt leaves Kansas Speedway with a victory in the Race to Stop Suicide 200 and control of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase.
Honeycutt led 111 of 134 laps on Saturday, won the first two stages and asserted the superiority of his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota late in the race to claim the series lead by 37 points over star-crossed Layne Riggs, who clipped the outside wall in the closing laps and finished 19th.
Riggs overcame a bungled stop on pit road to run second until contact with the wall dropped him through the field on the final two laps.
“We just executed,” said Honeycutt, who won for the first time at 1.5-mile Kansas, the third time this season and the third time in his career. “We executed all night. I can’t thank my pit crew enough.
“Sorry I didn’t do any burnouts—we’ve got to save this thing for Homestead (the final Chase race). The motors cost a lot, too.”
Intermittent rainstorms halted the race after 70 laps, with drivers and their crews waiting through a red-flag period of 4 hours 47 minutes for the resumption.
“Thanks to NASCAR and everyone for letting us finish the race,” said Honeycutt, who was third when rain interrupted the proceedings. “It started raining again in Victory Lane.”
When the second Chase event of the postseason restarted on Lap 78, Honeycutt resumed his dominance, passing Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes—who had taken the top two spots by staying out on older tires.
From that point, it was clear sailing until Riggs took two tires to Honeycutt’s four on the final pit stop under caution on Lap 117. Riggs restarted third and grabbed the lead on Lap 122, but Honeycutt powered past him a lap later and held the lead the rest of the way, through a caution for Enfinger’s blown tire and contact with the outside wall.
“I just went for it,” said Riggs, who entered the Chase as the top seed. “Went for it way to hard and went for when I shouldn’t have gone for it. I should have just settled for finishing second right there and had a shot at it later on.
“Just really disappointing. (My) Ford F-150 was really fast. I felt like we weren’t as good as the 11 all day. We were just too free… I had a really big run (with two laps left)—or thought I was going to get a big run—down the frontstretch. Never made it there. I got the wall instead.”
With Riggs fading on the final two laps, Honeycutt finished 1.358 seconds ahead of runner-up Christian Eckes. Brent Crews ran third, followed by Chase drivers Daniel Hemric, Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith.
Taking the initial green flag from the fourth position, Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Nick Sanchez on the opening lap and won the first stage wire-to-wire.
In fact, Honeycutt didn’t surrender the top spot until Lap 48, when Riggs got to the stripe first on a restart after Connor Hall spun on the backstretch to cause the second caution.
Riggs’ lead was short-lived. On Lap 50, Honeycutt tapped the rear bumper of Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford—with Riggs’ truck suffering a glancing blow against the outside wall. Honeycutt passed Riggs to the inside and retook the lead.
When Hall spun for the second time on Lap 54, bringing the second stage to an early end, Honeycutt held the top spot and completed the sweep of the first two stages. Honeycutt pitted for tires and fuel under caution for the stage break on Lap 61 and gave up the lead, as eight trucks remained on the track for a Lap 65 restart.
A multicar wreck on the restart Lap slowed the field once again, with Honeycutt already having climbed to third in the running order. Four laps later, with rain falling in earnest, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road and red-flagged the race with Enfinger leading and Rhodes running second.
If Honeycutt had a problem-free race to that point, Riggs endured calamity on pit road, as he had done in the Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway. During his Lap 61 pit stop, Riggs had to back up into his stall after the jack dropped with the lug nuts on his left-front wheel not yet tight.
Riggs restarted 25th and gained six spots on the restart lap before the wreck and rain stopped the race.
Non-Chase drivers Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia and Corey LaJoie completed the top 10 in the finishing order. Chase driver Giovanni Ruggiero was 13th. Tyler Ankrum finished 25th after a late flat tire, Ty Majeski 29th and Enfinger 31st.
Enfinger, who led throughout the red-flag period, suffered a pit road speeding penalty, a wreck and a two-lap penalty for intentionally causing a caution by stopping in Turn 3 after hitting the wall on Lap 123.
All told, Honeycutt scored 75 points, scoring every possible marker except for one point for posting the fastest lap, a distinction that went to Ankrum. Honeycutt has a 71-point lead over Smith, who is third in the standings.
Stampede Wins To Spithaler, Norris, Krummert, Schneider, Wonderling, Blackshear, Gallagher, Rhoades, Frantz, Bailey, Wolfe, and Stock
Jesse Love takes charge in NASCAR O’Reilly Chase with win at Phoenix
Kaden Honeycutt expands Chase lead with NASCAR Truck Series win at Phoenix
Dietrich Wins Final 50, Banks $20,000
King Jr. Wins Make-up Feature Thursday At Lernerville
Champions Crowned and First-Time Winners Shine on Championship Night at PPMS
Kaden Honeycutt dominates at Kansas to take over Chase lead
