NASCAR’s return to Richmond Raceway was always going to involve Austin Dillon.

Even before the green flag dropped, the worst clip of Dillon’s career was inescapable. Like a reoccurring nightmare, the worst mistake of his career was all over social media feeds and in promos. Before the race, you might have assumed that clip was all you’d remember when you hear the words “Austin Dillon at Richmond.”

Well, you’d have been wrong.

In a stunner, Dillon found himself taking a commanding lead with 60 laps to go. A win, a spot in the playoffs, sending your family to victory lane and redemption was just 60 laps away. 

As the RFK crews watched in horror, those laps quickly unwound. Just that like 60 laps had become 0 and the #3 was going back to victory lane. 

“Woo! Great job! Great call, Richard!” Richard Childress told his grandson. “You did it the right way this year, buddy! You did it the way you were supposed to do it last year.”

Dillon’s win at Richmond burst the playoff bubble, leaving just two open spots in the playoffs left. All three RFK cars are out and with the field heading to Daytona, even Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman are sweating the bubble.

Game 6 Moments

In my last takeaways article I said that the NASCAR playoff system was putting up Game 5 moments, ones that had intrigue, but you knew where this was heading. It’s always been like life to make me eat crow nearly immediately, because Dillon’s upset win has provided the perfect conditions for a must-see Daytona finish. 

Last year, Harrison Burton shocked the world to steal a playoff spot away from Kyle Busch and while my heart still hasn’t fully recovered (this win didn’t help), that was an iconic finish. While Daytona has turned into a bit of a “fuel-saving” race that sends me to nap time, the stakes certainly help to ensure I’m seated with a coffee for the finish.

Is it unfair and a very illegitimate championship system? Of course, but it’s the one we’ve got and I’m excited for another Daytona with high stakes.

The ‘Right Way’

The less said about last year’s travesty to motorsports the better, but it’s certainly poetic to see Dillon get a win in such an opposite fashion. His win at Richmond in 2024, was the worst that modern NASCAR has to offer and 2025 was some of the best modern NASCAR has to offer. 

While passing remained a bit of a novelty for the field, tire wear played a significant factor and there were some, interesting, green flag cautions. Mistakes on pit road were plentiful and made for a race that always had natural comers and goers. Dillon won the race off strategy and saving his tires, two hallmarks of NASCAR short track racing.

I won’t claim to have been the biggest Dillon or Richard Childress Racing fan, but there’s something about redemption that’s special. 

Welcome back to 2023, 23XI 

If Dillon’s nightmare started before the race, any 23XI fan’s nightmare started around stage two. Tyler Reddick, who started second and looked strong to start the race, got involved in a wreck that wasn’t his fault. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace looked like he had the race-winning pace to claim what his teammate had left open, winning stage two, until an old demon struck. 

Pit road issues, the thorn in the side of Wallace’s career poked him yet again. He lost a left front tire leaving his pit box with just over a 100 laps to go, having to stop in Chase Briscoe’s pit box to reattach it. Also, Riley Herbst!

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, welcome back 23XI, I was almost beginning to consider you a top team. 

They’re Wearing Tires??

It seems like every two weeks a driver heads into a race talking about tire wear and how they’re worried about how it’ll impact the race. And just like that we all get visions of Spring Bristol 2024, with off the charts wear and the last time it felt like tires truly mattered in a Cup Series race. 

But in nearly every case, the tires have been slight advantages that were negated by aero blocking. Richmond proves that the Goodyear and NASCAR are at least heading in the correct direction, cars on new tires were able to cruise past cars that were staying out on older tires. 

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Daytona for 400 miles and a spot in the playoffs up for grabs on Aug. 23. The green flag flies at 4:30 p.m. PST.