A look at the winners and losers of Sunday night’s Cup race at Richmond Raceway.
WINNERS
Austin Dillon — He was headed for the win until a caution sent the race to overtime. That doesn’t justify wrecking two drivers on the last lap of overtime to win but if NASCAR is not going to penalize a driver for that, then he is the winner. Dillon snapped a 68-race winless streak, becoming the seventh driver this year to end a winless streak of 42 races or more. Dillon is back in the playoffs after missing it last year.
Richard Childress Racing — A significant win for the organization that goes behind the good feelings this group will have after a miserable year. Both Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon have been headed for among their worst years in Cup, if not their worst. Dillon is in the playoffs with the win. That carries a significant financial bonus as well. The No. 3 car entered the race 32nd in points. Now, the worse the car can finish this year is 16th as a playoff car.
Bubba Wallace — He had never finished better than 12th at Richmond in 12 previous races before placing fourth on Sunday. He went from below the playoff cutline to holding the final playoff position with three races left.
Carson Hocevar — Tied his career best Cup finish with an eighth-place result.
Daniel Suarez — He and his team showed the potential of the option tires. Crew chief Matt Swiderski went to the option tires at the beginning of the second stage, earlier than all but one other car. It was a gamble because teams had only two sets of the option tires. Suarez restarted 16th on Lap 80 and was in the lead by Lap 93. The move helped Suarez gain track position and he was able to stay toward the front throughout the pit cycles, finishing with a 10th-place result — his third top 10 in the last 14 races — and a stage win.
LOSERS
Christopher Bell — While he finished sixth, Bell was penalized for speeding on pit road for the third consecutive race at Richmond, ending his chances at a win. He had led 122 laps before the speeding penalty in the final stage.
Martin Truex Jr. — Engine issue led to a last-place finish. It is the second time in the last three races a Joe Gibbs Racing car failed to finish due to an engine issue. Ty Gibbs did not finish at Pocono after his engine expired.
Joey Logano — Was headed for victory in overtime when Austin Dillon’s contact spun him into the wall on the final lap. Instead of a victory — and five playoff points — Logano finished 19th and was furious with Dillon.