Here’s what the drivers had to say after Sunday night’s Cup race at Richmond Raceway.
Austin Dillon — Winner: “It feels good to win, even though it’s the first time. After this season, God blessed us today. It was unfortunate when the caution came out because the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy was fast. I knew it was going to be rough, but coming into the last corner I just went hard. This was our opportunity. You don’t get an opportunity like that very often. All our partners, my family and RCR want for us is to go hard and try to win, so we just had to go hard.”
Dillon: “Sometimes you just have to get it.”
Austin Dillon talks about his win at Richmond Raceway and whether his move on the final lap was fair.
Denny Hamlin — 2nd: “Obviously it’s against the rules, but it’s fair in NASCAR. This is a different league. There’s no penalties for rough driving or anything like that, so it opens the door for Austin (Dillon) to do whatever he wants. The thing is, I got caught on the right rear again. I was just minding my own business and he came swerving left, so I got caught on the right rear and hurt my shoulder. I don’t know. The record books don’t care what happened. He’s going to go down as a win. He’s not going to get very far because he’s got to get paid for stuff like this, but he did jump up 20 places in the points, so that’s worth it. So, all of that is understandable. No ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was a part of it. It would have been fun if I wasn’t one of the two guys that got eliminated in the last corner, but I get it. “But that doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
Tyler Reddick — 3rd Place: “Yeah, Joey (Logano) took the words out of me. That was the move. Unbelievable. I understand why Joey wanted to win the race in the first place. I’ve been threatened with a suspension for knocking someone out with a right hook, and they’ve always been pretty tough about that. I don’t know. It’s one thing to race as hard as you can to win. It’s another thing to just throw a right hook at someone. This may sound like a pretty biased opinion coming from me about my boss, but if I were him, I’d be pretty pissed too. They’re so focused on winning races that people lose their minds and do stupid things. I’m happy for his team. He has a lot of great people on his team. That was pretty crazy.”
Bubba Wallace — Finished 4th: “Obviously we were near the bottom, so we knew we had to work our way up to get here, but that’s exactly what the team did. We fought hard. It wasn’t our best day on pit road, but not for a lack of effort. Credit to them for getting better all night. At the last pit stop they showed up when it mattered and kept us in the race. We just executed. Our Leidos Toyota Camry was just too loose. We tried to keep it quiet from the start of practice. It was out of hand and it definitely bothered us in the race, but we just kept getting better and better and tried to give whatever feedback we could. We executed all night. Credit to the team for their hard work. I’m happy to get out of here with a top-five finish. We still have a long way to go. We just have to keep fighting. I think it’s OK to drop somebody and put somebody in the right rear. It’s funny how it works.”
Carson Hocevar — Finished 8th: “The No. 77 Delaware Life Camaro ZL1 was pretty good. We didn’t qualify well, but we got into the top 15 on the long runs and then into the top 10. That’s big for us considering where we placed in the spring and where we placed at the short tracks. Getting into the top 10 is pretty big, but for the Delaware Life/Spire Chevrolet team, turning it around from almost being in the low 20s to being in the single digits here is really big.”
Daniel Suarez — Finished 10th: “It was a fun race! If NASCAR and the fans didn’t love these option tires, I don’t know what they would love, because they were great. Strategy played a big role in what everybody was doing, what we were doing and everybody’s different agendas. It was fun. I was having fun and the No. 99 Choice Privilege Chevrolet was fast. The team did a great job with the strategy. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out at the end, but we tried and we ended up finishing 10th.”
Ryan Blaney — Finished 11th: “Actually, I think it was a good night for us. We had a bad pit stop and lost seven seconds, which really hurt us. We managed to get into the top 10 before the final caution came out and finished 11th. Overall it was a good night. I think we could have done better, but it wasn’t bad.”
Kyle Busch — Finished 12th: “Overall, I had a good night at Richmond Raceway in the Cheddars Patriotic Camaro. The way the race unfolded late allowed me to move up a lap and gain a few positions as we went into overtime. My crew chief Randall Barnett and the whole Cheddars team did a good job on the strategy tonight and made the car better. It was tough early in the race, but we were much better by the end of the race. Congratulations to my teammate Austin Dillon on the win. He was really good all weekend and took advantage to be in position to win tonight.”
Josh Berry — Finished 14th: “It was OK. I struggled a little more than I expected, but overall I had a good race. I was able to stay on the lead lap and had a solid finish, so I’m looking forward to carrying this momentum into Michigan.”
Michael McDowell — Finished 15th: “I’m proud of everyone on the Love’s RV Stop Ford Dark Horse team. We had to race really hard on 24 and 77 to get into the top 10 on the run before the caution. Then we got too loose. We tried two tires at the end and got into the top 15. Travis made a great call going for the red first, and we went from a free pass to seventh place. It changed our night and put us in the contention.”
Joey Logano — Finished 19th: “Apparently, he’s OK. What can I say? Apparently, he can come five car lengths back, totally crash somebody, and then crash another one before the finish line and call it a race. … If you get that far out front, you’re leading by three to four car lengths. I dropped back on the entry. I thought, ‘I’m just gonna lap the bottom here. OK.’ And he went hard. Obviously he didn’t turn because he hit me, and (Hamlin) wasn’t going to race because he was going to win the race. I beat him fair and square on the restart, and he just made a cowardly move. He sucks. He sucks. He’s sucked his whole career, and now he’s going to be in the playoffs. I think it’s good for him.”
Logano after the Cookout 400: “That was bullshit”
Joey Logano kept his energy up after the end of the Cookout 400 race in Richmond, winning after Austin Dillon spun him on the final lap.
Noah Gragson — Finished 20th: “It was a struggle all weekend. We needed a push forward, but I’m still very proud of our group. The car got better, but we were slow all day. I’m excited for next weekend at Michigan and we’ll keep working hard.”
Chase Briscoe — Finished 21st: “From a race standpoint at Richmond, it was tough to pass. I don’t know what it looked like from outside the car, but inside it looked like there were a lot of guys going forward and a lot of guys going backwards. It definitely added a new dimension and strategy to the race. I’m curious to see what it’ll be like if I’m on the soft tire the whole time. I think I’ll be OK.”
Ty Dillon — Finished 26th: “Tonight wasn’t exactly the race I wanted, but it was a long race and we gave it our all with no cautions. I’m really proud of our effort and feel like we executed where we needed to. Every time I race with Kaulig Racing I get better and better. 26th and moving on.”
Justin Haley — Finished 27th: “Richmond is a very tough course, but our Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford Mustang Dark Horse was able to do just what was needed.”
Daniel Hemric — Finished 30th: “It was a tough night at Richmond. Congratulations to Austin (Dillon) and RCR on the win, this is huge for the team. We definitely need to regroup, but hopefully what we saw here tonight in the No. 3 car will help us at future short tracks.”
Riley Herbst — Finished 33rd: “Racing at Richmond in the Xfinity Series is always fun, but the Cup Series is a whole different ballgame. It took me a while to really get a grip of the changes in the track and how it affects the car. It’s hard to come back from a few laps down because things change so quickly, but we made every lap, which was exactly what we needed in my first Cup race here.”
Martin Truex Jr. — Finished 37th: “I hicked it once on the backstretch and then I started to lose speed. Like a valve spring or something broke and then it just self-destructed really quickly and self-destructed. I don’t know. That’s the kind of day it was.”
