Charlotte NASCAR: First win for Austin Dillon after rain delay
Austin Dillon won the delayed NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, sweeping to victory for Richard Childress Racing in the series' first-ever four-part event
Dillon took the lead on the final lap of the race, after a split in strategy emerged between the leaders.
While most made late pitstops under green, Jimmie Johnson, Dillon, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman were among those to try and stretch their fuel mileage to the end.
Though the other three faded, Dillon just held on to cross the line first and take his maiden Cup series win, ahead of hard-chargers Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
Truex, who dominated this event last year, mastered his restarts all evening, and was able to keep main challengers Johnson and Kyle Busch at arm's length for the majority of the night.
Though he led 233 of the race's 400 laps, he was ultimately unable to close the gap at the very end.
Already NASCAR's longest event at 600 miles, the race was further elongated by a stoppage for a brief but heavy deluge of rain on lap 143 of 400.
After more than an hour and a half, most of which was spent drying the track, the action finally resumed.
The majority of the race's nine cautions were for minor incidents, save for one, when Truex and Johnson had to take avoiding action from an incident involving Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott during the first stage.
Jeffrey Earnhardt's Circle Sport Chevrolet had spilled oil and metal debris all over the circuit on lap 19, Elliott struck debris and his Hendrick Chevrolet burst into flames and slowed suddenly.
Keselowski, unable to slow down due to the oil, careened into the back of him, and while both retired on the spot, Truex and Johnson threaded their way through the middle of the two destroyed cars.
Dillon finished ahead of a quartet of Toyotas, with Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin completing the top five behind Busch and Truex.
Kurt Busch and rookie Erik Jones followed, with poleman Kevin Harvick eighth, Ryan Newman ninth and Dale Earnhardt Jr rounding out the top 10.
The result marks the first victory for the iconic #3 car in the Cup series since Dale Earnhardt Sr's final win in 2000.
RESULTS - 400 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 4h19m22.s |
2 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 0.835s |
3 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 1.152s |
4 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5.378s |
5 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10.611s |
6 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 11.429s |
7 | Erik Jones | Furniture Row Racing | Toyota | 14.409s |
8 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 16.323s |
9 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 18.703s |
10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.486s |
11 | Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.805s |
12 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 25.189s |
13 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 25.967s |
14 | Clint Bowyer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 27.243s |
15 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 30.355s |
16 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 30.959s |
17 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | s |
18 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
19 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
20 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
21 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 1 Lap |
22 | Regan Smith | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 1 Lap |
23 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 3 Laps |
24 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 4 Laps |
25 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 4 Laps |
26 | J.J. Yeley | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 5 Laps |
27 | Gray Gaulding | BK Racing | Toyota | 7 Laps |
28 | Landon Cassill | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 7 Laps |
29 | Timmy Hill | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 16 Laps |
30 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 25 Laps |
31 | Derrike Cope | Premium Motorsports | Toyota | 73 Laps |
32 | Corey LaJoie | BK Racing | Toyota | Engine |
33 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | Accident |
34 | Cole Whitt | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | Engine |
35 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Accident |
36 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | Rear end |
37 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go FAS Racing | Ford | Accident |
38 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Accident |
39 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | Accident |
40 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Circle Sport / TMG | Chevrolet | Rear end |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
Pos | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 491 |
2 | Kyle Larson | 486 |
3 | Brad Keselowski | 409 |
4 | Kevin Harvick | 388 |
5 | Kyle Busch | 386 |
6 | Jamie McMurray | 385 |
7 | Chase Elliott | 362 |
8 | Jimmie Johnson | 359 |
9 | Clint Bowyer | 343 |
10 | Joey Logano | 336 |
11 | Denny Hamlin | 332 |
12 | Ryan Blaney | 308 |
13 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 298 |
14 | Kurt Busch | 290 |
15 | Matt Kenseth | 288 |
16 | Trevor Bayne | 271 |
17 | Ryan Newman | 266 |
18 | Erik Jones | 256 |
19 | Daniel Suarez | 246 |
20 | Kasey Kahne | 244 |
21 | Austin Dillon | 238 |
22 | Ty Dillon | 205 |
23 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 202 |
24 | Paul Menard | 197 |
25 | Aric Almirola | 188 |
26 | Chris Buescher | 172 |
27 | David Ragan | 158 |
28 | Michael McDowell | 155 |
29 | A.J. Allmendinger | 149 |
30 | Cole Whitt | 139 |
31 | Landon Cassill | 137 |
32 | Danica Patrick | 127 |
33 | Matt DiBenedetto | 124 |
34 | Reed Sorenson | 63 |
35 | Gray Gaulding | 61 |
36 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 50 |
37 | Michael Waltrip | 29 |
38 | Derrike Cope | 22 |
39 | D.J. Kennington | 1 |
39 | Cody Ware | 1 |
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