2024 Cook Out 400 (Richmond)


The 2024 Cook Out 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on August 11, 2024, at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 408 laps—extended from 400 laps due to an overtime finish, on the asphalt short track, it was the 23rd race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Austin Dillon won the race, breaking a 68-race winless drought, dating back to the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Denny Hamlin finished 2nd, and Tyler Reddick finished 3rd. Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five, and Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott, and Daniel Suárez rounded out the top ten.

Report

Background

Richmond Raceway is a 0.75 miles, D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it has formerly hosted events such as the International Race of Champions, Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown, and the USAC sprint car series. Due to Richmond Raceway's unique "D" shape which allows drivers to reach high speeds, Richmond has long been known as a short track that races like a superspeedway. With its multiple racing grooves, and proclivity for contact Richmond is a favorite among NASCAR drivers and fans.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

Austin Dillon was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 22.698 seconds and a speed of.

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 22.850 and a speed of.

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage One
Laps: 70
Stage Two
Laps: 160

Final Stage results

Stage Three
Laps: 170
Having taken the lead from Denny Hamlin with 28 laps to go, Austin Dillon, who entered the race 32nd in points, drove out to a two and a half second lead over the next twenty five laps. However, a crash right in front of him involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece sent the race into overtime. When the race resumed, Joey Logano, using the high line to his advantage, took the lead on the restart and led coming to turn three on the final lap. Dillon, realizing what was at stake, and despite being four car lengths back of Logano entering the corner, sent it in, and got into the back of Logano, sending him into a spin. Hamlin went through on the bottom but Dillon also got into the 11 car, sending Hamlin into the outside wall as Dillon took the win under caution. Logano and Hamlin later criticized Dillon for his actions.
Three days later, NASCAR stripped Dillon of his playoff eligibility, whilst allowing the win to stand, whilst also fining Logano $50,000 for showing his frustrating with the RCR crew by spinning his tires in front of Dillon’s pit stall. In addition, Dillon’s spotter Brandon Benesch was suspended for three races after audio surfaced of him telling Dillon to “wreck him” on the team radio. RCR later announced they would appeal the penalties. An independent appeals panel upheld all but the Benesch penalty on August 21. Benesch, who had served the first of his three race suspension at Michigan, had his penalty reduced to time served.

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 26 among 9 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 5 for 23
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 3 minutes, and 19 seconds
  • Average speed:

Media

Television

USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Marty Snider, and Dillon Welch handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

The Motor Racing Network had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Todd Gordon called the race from the broadcast booth for MRN when the field races through the front straightaway. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform when the field races down the backstraightaway. Jason Toy, Chris Wilner, and Winston Kelley called the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Chevrolet839
2Toyota821
3Ford796

  • Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
  • . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.