Dillon Wins Daytona, Blaney in Final Playoff Spot

Photo by Peter Stratta/TSJSports

NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A marathon running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona ended with the 3 car finding victory lane again. After restarting an already-postponed race following a three-hour rain delay, Austin Dillon rose to the occasion, winning with teammate Tyler Reddick right behind him. A fourth career win for Dillon puts him into the 2022 Playoffs, as the final berth also goes to Ryan Blaney.

Chase Elliott was aggressive early, leading many laps from starting second. Elliott held the lead through the first big accident of the day, when Playoff bubble driver Ryan Blaney ran into trouble. Erik Jones wobbled while leading the inside lane out of turn two, stacking up Denny Hamlin and others behind him. This ended with the 12, the 20 of Christopher Bell, and the 6 of Brad Keselowski getting the worst damage. The day was over for the 20 and the 6. Blaney however was badly beaten, but able to continue onward.

After a one-lap dash to end Stage 1, Elliott lost the top spot to Joey Logano. The 22 stole the opening Stage win, with a valuable Playoff bonus point in his pocket.

Amazingly, Stage 2 ran its entire distance caution-free. After Toyotas teamed up coming off pit road, Kyle Busch narrowly beat Martin Truex Jr. to the green and white checkers.

Early in Stage 3, the other driver on the Playoff bubble found trouble. Martin Truex Jr, was collected in a multi-car crash when Michael McDowell was spun from second. While this incident took out a few more cars, Truex’s 19 was able to continue as well. This set up a position-by-position battle between Truex and Blaney should there be a new winner.

With several cars already destroyed, the big one of the day did not strike until the closing laps. Just after Denny Hamlin took command with 21 laps left, the 11 led the field into a rain shower in turns one and two. Hamlin and just about everyone behind him wrecked, pulverizing the field of competitors and allowing the seas to part. The only car to bob and weave through the carnage unscathed would be Austin Dillon in the 3.

After a three-hour rain delay, the race resumed with very few competitive cars left to battle. On the restart, Daytona 500 Champion Austin Cindric took the lead from Dillon, but the 2 was a sitting duck. As laps wound down, Dillon waited for the right time to make his move. He would nudge Cindric out of the way entering turn one with three laps to go. Not long after, teammate Tyler Reddick quickly took over second, allowing RCR a 1-2 finish at Daytona.

Career win number four for Austin Dillon puts him into his fifth Playoff appearance. Both cars from RCR are among the 16 to compete for the 2022 Cup Series title, as Ryan Blaney also took the last spot. Blaney just barely beat Truex for this final berth, only being three points ahead of the 19.

“Crazy faith,” Dillon said of having to wait to resume under the rain delay. “My wife was in there. She was dancing in the rain. I got upset. I said, ‘Don’t be doing that’. She said, ‘Lord, when you have faith like me, you don’t have to worry about it.’ I was like, ‘Okay, okay. I got you, baby.’

But Ace was back there with me. We were watching Paw Patrol, watching the Carolina Cowboys winning the PBR event. They said, ‘get ready.’

We stayed ready. And I have to thank my teammate Tyler Reddick, BREZTRI, Bass Pro Shops, everybody that makes this thing happen. Dow, who has been with me since my start. We have so many great partners. Chevrolet, Chevrolet, Chevrolet. Man, we’re in the Playoffs.”

“There was a lot going on there. I knew that if we got to the white; I was afraid that if I waited too long, I was afraid somebody would wreck behind us, so I wanted to go ahead and get the lead. We were able to get it.

I had a big run to him and then I had my teammate, the 8 (Tyler Reddick), back there. I knew we were in good shape there to the end. He did a good job checking up any kind of run. Just a little too much push there and got him loose.”

Behind Dillon and Reddick, top finishers were Austin Cindric, Landon Cassill, Noah Gragson, Cody Ware, BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., David Ragan, and Kyle Busch. Hear from some of these drivers below.

With the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field set, it’s time to begin the 10-week hunt for the championship. Race one of the Round of 16 is the Cook Out Southern 500 from Darlington Raceway. Coverage of the Labor Day weekend classic is Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. With a crown jewel win and a ticket to the Round of 12 up for grabs, who can take this major win from Darlington?

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports