Who Won Last Year’s NASCAR Cup Race at Richmond?

Austin Dillon enters this weekend’s Cook Out 400 as the defending winner after earning one of the biggest victories of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season at Richmond Raceway.

The Richard Childress Racing driver led a race-high 107 of 400 laps and pulled away over the closing stages to claim his sixth career Cup Series victory. The win came by 2.471 seconds over Alex Bowman and locked Dillon into the Chase, making him one of the biggest storylines heading into the postseason.

Here’s a look back at last year’s Richmond race and what it could mean entering Saturday night’s return to the Virginia short track.

Dillon showed speed throughout the evening but truly took control in the second half of the race, leading the final 49 laps after spending much of the night at the front.

The victory marked his first Cup Series win since 2022 and represented one of the strongest performances Richard Childress Racing produced all season. It also served as redemption after a frustrating finish at Richmond the previous year, giving Dillon and the No. 3 team an emotional breakthrough at one of NASCAR’s most historic short tracks.

Following the win, Dillon credited both his team and his grandfather, NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress.

“Man, that feels good, got to thank the good Lord above,” Dillon said afterward. “I really wanted that one. Last year hurt really bad, just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond.”

The victory also dramatically reshaped the Chase picture by giving Dillon an automatic berth with only one regular-season race remaining.

The race featured several Chase contenders near the front throughout the night, with Team Penske placing three cars inside the top five.

1. Austin Dillon
2. Alex Bowman
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Joey Logano
5. Austin Cindric
6. Kyle Larson
7. Daniel Suárez
8. Josh Berry
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Denny Hamlin

Several championship hopefuls also encountered trouble during the event. Bubba Wallace led 123 laps before a pit-road issue dropped him to 28th, while Chase Elliott suffered his first DNF of the season after a multi-car accident. Tyler Reddick, who won Stage 1 and led 41 laps, finished 34th after contact damaged his car.

Dillon returns to Richmond looking to become the first repeat winner at the track since Martin Truex Jr. swept both races during the 2019 season.

While repeating won’t be easy, Dillon arrives with momentum after last year’s dominant performance and will again race for Richard Childress Racing on one of the schedule’s most demanding short tracks.

This year’s Cook Out 400 also carries added intrigue because Goodyear is introducing a left-side tire compound that has never before been used at Richmond. Combined with the familiar right-side tire from Martinsville and North Wilkesboro, the new combination is expected to increase tire wear and place an even greater emphasis on long-run speed and race strategy.

Whether Dillon can defend his Richmond victory remains to be seen, but his 2025 triumph ensures he’ll arrive this weekend as the driver everyone else is chasing.