Dillon, who had a fast car all weekend, passed Denny Hamlin late in the race to take the lead and seemed to be on his way to victory when a crash with less than two laps of 400 remaining sent the race into overtime.
All cars on the lead lap opted to pit, and Dillon was first out of pit road, followed by Joey Logano and Hamlin. Logano made a good connection to Dillon on the restart and took the lead.
On the final lap, entering Turn 3, Dillon drove deep into the corner and into the back of Logano, knocking him out of the way. Hamlin then pulled alongside Dillon, but was steered into the wall himself.
Dillon earned his first win in nearly two years in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. RCR’s last victory at Richmond came in 2013 with driver Kevin Harvick.
The win is the fifth of Dillon’s career and his first top-five finish of the 2024 season.
When asked if his last-lap moves were fair, Dillon said, “I don’t know, man. It’s been two years. That’s the first car I’ve had with a chance to win. I felt like we were the fastest car with two laps to go. Obviously we needed a straightaway. Wore the guy. I hate to do that, but sometimes you just have to have it.”
“I have to thank the good Lord. The last two years have been tough, man. I care about RCR, these fans and my wife. This is the first time I’ve given my little girl something. It means a lot to me. I hate it, but I had to do it.”
When asked what he would be willing to do to win, Dillon said, “Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes.”
“We just never give up. I can’t thank all the people who helped this team enough. Yes, sometimes you just have to make it happen.”
Two top contenders for victory on Sunday evening were taken out of the race before the finish.
Christopher Bell, who had one of the fastest cars all night and led 122 laps, retired from the race when he was caught speeding during a round of green flag pit stops at the start of the final stage.
Bell’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, Martin Truex Jr., who had led the most laps in the spring race, retired from the race after 250 laps due to engine failure.
Stage 1
Bell caught up and passed Hamlin with 25 laps to go to take the lead, winning the first stage by 1.619 seconds. Truex was third, Logano fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five. At one point, teammates Hamlin and Truex made contact as they battled for second place.
Level 2
Daniel Suarez beat Bell by 0.769 seconds to take the Stage 2 win. Hamlin finished third, Logano fourth and Dillon fifth.
During the break between Stages 1 and 2, Suarez was one of only two riders to switch to option tyres and made good use of them, taking the lead at times from 17th place. This reputation put him in contention for the win.
Level 3
After the break between Stages 2 and 3, all of the leading lap drivers elected to pit, with Bell narrowly edging Suarez out of pit road. Most of the field was running the option tires, but Suarez continued to run on the regular tires. When the race resumed with 160 laps to go, Bell was ahead of Suarez and Hamlin.
With 149 laps to go, Truex had to pit under green due to a possible engine problem. His team eventually brought his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota into the garage.
“I don’t know, it was just one of those days,” Truex said in the garage. “It’s just a shame. My last start at this track, it would have been nice to win again.”
With 123 laps to go, several drivers, including Larson, pitted to stop for a lap under the green flag for new tires and fuel.
Alex Bowman and Bell were both penalized for speeding at their respective stops and had to serve drive-through penalties.
After the stop cycle was completed, Hamlin took the lead by about half a second over Logano.
With 75 laps to go, Hamlin still held the lead, but Dillon passed Logano for second place, making him the fastest car on the track.
Hamlin was among the first to reach pit road with 68 laps to go to begin the final round of green flag stops to refill tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race.
After the pit stop cycle was completed with 54 laps to go, Hamlin continued to hold a small lead over Dillon, with Logano closely followed in third place.
Dillon caught up with Hamlin’s car with 30 laps to go and began to challenge him for the lead, finally passing him two laps later.
With less than two laps to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece crashed entering the first corner, resulting in a caution and sending the race into a two-lap extension.
