Austin Dillon holds off teammate Tyler Reddick to claim NASCAR Cup race at TMS
Austin Dillon held off Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick in the final three laps to win NASCAR’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
It’s Dillon’s first win in his last 88 races and his third NASCAR Cup Series win. His previous best finish this season was second in the Busch Clash, the first race of the year back in February. He has five top-10 finishes this year. His last win was the 2018 Daytona 500.
“It means a lot for the whole family,” Dillon said, who won his first race since his son, Ace, was born last month.
A 10-car wreck on lap 219 shuffled order and was among 10 caution flags in the race.
The wreck knocked Cole Custer, who won last week at Kentucky Speedway, out of the race. Early leaders Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch were also knocked out of contention.
“I just closed my eyes, honestly. Luckily, there wasn’t much damage,” said Kevin Harvick, who escaped from the middle of the wreck and finished in the top five after leading for 40 laps.
There are eight Cup Series races remaining before the playoffs, including Thursday at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick, a rookie, finished in the top 10 for the sixth time in 2020. Third-place finisher Joey Logano recorded his 13th top-10 finish in 24 races at TMS. Kyle Busch finished fourth and Harvick finished fifth.
The last time Richard Childress Racing finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the NASCAR Cup Series was 2011 at Talladega with Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton.
Dillon led twice for a total of 22 laps. Ryan Blaney led for 150 laps of the 334 lap race and won the first two stages but finished seventh after several caution flags in the final 20 laps of the race pushed him to the back of the pack.
This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 7:11 PM.
