NASCAR: Austin Dillon extends odd record with controversial Richmond win

The car that had been a tractor for most of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season suddenly turned into a bulldozer on the final lap of Sunday night's overtime-extended Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, netting Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon his fifth career Cup Series win and first since August 2022.

To be fair to the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, he appeared to be well on his way to a win before the controversial last-lap chaos unfolded, when he wrecked both Team Penske's Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin to solidify a trip to victory lane and a spot in this year's 16-driver playoff field.

Aside from the two planned stage cautions, it was a caution-free race at the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia oval, up until JTG Daugherty Racing's Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made contact with Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Preece in turn one.

The accident happened more than 398 laps into the required 399 before the white flag was due to make the 400-lap race official, which led to a mandatory overtime restart. Dillon had a comfortable lead at the time, but Logano got the better of him on the ensuing restart.

Dillon's No. 3 Chevrolet was the car to beat, and he took advantage of it on Sunday night, and while the way he ultimately won the race has been the most debated topic of the sport's return to action after the Olympic break, the fastest driver did indeed take the checkered flag.

The race was effectively one he deserved to win, until it wasn't. But he won it anyway.

Entering the race, Dillon sat in 32nd place in the point standings. There is no longer a requirement that a driver must be inside the top 30 to qualify for the playoffs via a win, but even if there were, it wouldn't really matter here, as Dillon moved his way up to 26th with the win and the 10 stage points he scored earlier in the race.

Dillon has five career race victories, and all five victories have locked him into the playoffs from outside of the top 16 in the point standings.

The modern playoff format has been around for 11 seasons, as it was introduced in 2014. From 2014 to 2023, four drivers won their way into the playoffs on multiple occasions from below the top 16. Aric Almirola did it in 2014 and 2021, Kyle Busch did it in 2014 and 2015, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did it in 2017 and 2023.

Austin Dillon did it in 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022. From 2017 to 2022, there were 11 playoff spots that went to drivers outside of the top 16. Dillon was the only driver to earn more than one of them, and he earned four.

Now he has earned five, and since the current format was implemented, no other driver has earned more than two.

• 2014: A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin
• 2015: Kyle Busch
• 2016: Chris Buescher, Tony Stewart
• 2017: Austin Dillon, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• 2018: Austin Dillon
• 2019: N/A
• 2020: Cole Custer, Austin Dillon
• 2021: Aric Almirola, Michael McDowell
• 2022: Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon
• 2023: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• 2024: Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon

So while the way he won Sunday's race was controversial to say the least, Dillon has once again proven that he knows how to get the job done when the odds are stacked against him. In this case, he was essentially backed into a corner, and he truly did resort to a "whatever it takes" approach.

On only one occasion during his 11-year Cup Series career has he qualified for the playoffs on points, and that happened all the way back in 2016. Yet now here we are in 2024, and he has just secured his sixth career playoff berth.

Through the first 23 races of the 26-race regular season, 13 drivers have found victory lane. Three playoff spots still need to be filled by the regular season's final three events at Michigan International Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, and Darlington Raceway over the next three weekends.

All three races are set to be shown live on either NBC or USA Network. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!