It took a late-race caution to put Austin Dillon into position to win on Sunday at Texas.
Heck, It took a Cup Series driver trying to cut down to pit road from the middle of the track, specifically.
But, Austin Dillon took what was his.
The driver of the No. 3 held off both Kyle Busch and Joey Logano on three separate restarts in the closing laps, while keeping distance between himself and Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Reddick.
The pair didn’t want to put either of each others’ finishes in jeopardy, earning their teams first 1-2 finish since 2011 when Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton did it at Talladega.
It’s part of a revamped organization for the team that has been constantly climbing the ladder that is the playoff grid throughout the season.
Now, with Reddick 14 points out of the playoffs and having the most speed of any rookie in the series, RCR could see two drivers in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t mention how they got there.
Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, and Aric Almirola all had as good of a chance as anybody to win that race at Texas, but a yellow flag with 26 laps to go threw the green-flag pit stop rotation into the mud.
The trio went to the rear of the lead lap after taking the wave around while everyone else pitted, costing them the track position needed to contend for a win with this package.
Matt DiBenedetto was running with those three as well, and we wasn’t at all pleased with the way the caution came out.
This guy having zero awareness ruined our day. Had a very fast car at the end. Lovely https://t.co/AredQ1HAwO
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) July 19, 2020
DiBenedetto was so enraged, he fired this tweet off minutes after getting out of his car, and he has a complete right to be.
Quin Houff was simply in the middle of the track and came down while Christopher Bell was on his inside.
It’s the fifth DNF for the 00 car this season, already one more than Landon Cassill had in the entirety of 2019 when he was in the same car.
It’s becoming a trend and people are beginning to notice.
Jeff Gluck giving Cedar Rapids' native Landon Cassill some praise after the guy driving the car he drove last year just wrecked for like the 266th race in a row (it seems). https://t.co/RegS9JHM1o
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) July 19, 2020
Nonetheless, the No. 3 car went back to victory lane on Sunday for the third time for Dillon in his young NASCAR career.
We’ll find out if his success continues as the series heads to Kansas (Thursday, 6:30 p.m. NBCSN) for a weeknight race.
Regardless, Dillon was in the right place at the right time and he made the most of it, clinching a playoff spot for the 2020 season.
NASCAR Cup Series Race @ Texas Results
1. Austin Dillon
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Joey Logano
4. Kyle Busch
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Erik Jones
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Kurt Busch
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Aric Almirola
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Chase Elliott
13. Ryan Newman
14. Bubba Wallace
15. Michael McDowell
16. Corey LaJoie
17. Matt DiBenedetto
18. Matt Kenseth
19. Chris Buescher
20. Denny Hamlin
21. Christopher Bell
22. John Hunter-Nemechek
23. Daniel Suarez
24. J.J. Yeley
25. Gray Gaulding
26. Jimmie Johnson
27. Brennan Poole
28. Reed Sorenson
29. Martin Truex Jr.
30. Alex Bowman
31. Josh Bilicki
32. Joey Gase
33. BJ McLeod
34. Quin Houff
35. Ty Dillon
36. Timmy Hill
37. William Byron
38. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
39. Cole Custer
40. Ryan Preece
| 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | ||||||
| After 18 of 26 Regular Season Races – Next Thurs. @ Kansas | ||||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | Points | Cutoff | Playoff Points | |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 4 | x | x | 23 | |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 4 | x | x | 22 | |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 2 | x | x | 14 | |
| 4 | Brad Keselowski | 2 | x | x | 14 | |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 1 | x | x | 10 | |
| 6 | Alex Bowman | 1 | x | x | 9 | |
| 7 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | x | x | 8 | |
| 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | 1 | x | x | 7 | |
| 9 | Cole Custer ® | 1 | x | x | 5 | |
| 10 | Austin Dillon | 1 | x | x | 5 | |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 0 | 534 | +109 | 1 | |
| 12 | Kurt Busch | 0 | 533 | +108 | 2 | |
| 13 | Kyle Busch | 0 | 520 | +95 | 0 | |
| 14 | Matt DiBenedetto | 0 | 476 | +51 | 0 | |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | 0 | 461 | +36 | 1 | |
| 16 | Jimmie Johnson | 0 | 427 | +2 | 0 | |
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||||
| 17 | William Byron | 0 | 425 | -2 | 0 | |
| 18 | Tyler Reddick | 0 | 413 | -14 | 0 | |
| 19 | Erik Jones | 0 | 403 | -24 | 0 | |
| 20 | Bubba Wallace | 0 | 351 | -76 | 0 | |
