Austin Dillon Makes the No. 3 a Winner Again

Austin Dillon returned the No. 3 Chevy to Victory Circle

(CONCORD, NC – May 28, 2017 – RIS) Austin Dillon became the seventh first-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner by outlasting Jimmie Johnson late in the race to take the 2017 Coca-Cola 600. Dillon's No. 3 Dow Chevrolet had just enough fuel on board late in the race to take the checkered flag and attempt to start a burnout before getting pushed into Victory Circle at the longest race on the schedule. "It hasn't sunk in yet. I can't believe it," gushed Dillon. "I was just really focused on those last laps. My fiancé wrote in the car, 'When you keep God in the first place, he will take you places you never imagined.' And, I never imagined to be here at the 600 Victory Lane. Praise the Lord and all these guys who work so hard; and my pit crew is the best on pit road. I love it for them. We're in the Chase. It's awesome."

Dillon's longtime crew chief, 'Slugger' Labbe, was replaced last week by Justin Alexander. Alexander led Dillon to an Xfinity race victory and now is 'one for one' in leading Dillon to victories in their first races together. Dillon quipped that now he wants to try NHRA racing with Alexander as his crew chief.

Rain and lightning forced a stop to the 58th Coca Cola 600 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but the weather moved out and the track dried with Air Titans and jet driers.

The race went only 19 more laps before Jeffrey Earnhardt's car broke, spreading oil and parts in front of Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, who smashed into Elliott, taking both contenders out of the race.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 NAPA CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on Lap 19: "This is so disappointing. Our NAPA Chevy was going to be all right as the night went along. But the No. 33 (Jeffrey Earnhardt) broke something, I guess, and I hit it hard and I saw some fire. And I guess I was laying down some oil all at the same time. And Brad (Keselowski) couldn't get stopped. I hate it. It's such a bummer. We'll just go after it again next week."

WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY? "Yeah, I'm fine. The No. 33 car or whoever it was, broke something ahead of me and ended up hitting it. I hit it pretty hard. I knew it had hurt our nose at least, then I saw some flames and figured we were laying down oil too, I guess. Brad (Keselowski) couldn't get stopped and ended up kind of finishing us off, but it was a bummer. I hate it. I don't really know what you do about stuff like that. Just move on."

LOOKED LIKE SOMETHING CAME OFF THE NO. 33 CAR IN FRONT OF YOU, WHAT DID YOU SEE? "Yeah, I saw parts and pieces flying. I don't know if he blew a tire or something and I ended up hitting something that he had on track. I hit it pretty hard. It was really solid, so I knew it was rough. I saw some fire, tried to get stopped and get out of the way and I guess Brad got in my oil and couldn't get slowed down, so I hate it. Man, it is so just ridiculous. I wish I knew what to do to try to fix things like that, but at the end of the day you really can't."

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – "Somebody broke and there was just oil everywhere and I couldn't turn. I ran into the back of Chase. Somebody broke in front of him and then he ran over what they broke and then he broke, so there were two cars broke in front of me and just oil everywhere. You couldn't stop and turn. You couldn't do anything. It's a real bummer for our team. We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and I think we had a shot at winning tonight, but that's how it goes."

Just a couple of laps before the weather imps interfered, Matt DiBenedetto slammed into the Turn One wall. MATT DIBENEDETTO – No. 32 Cosmo Ford Fusion – "We were running okay for what we had. Our balance was good and everything was fine. I had no indication of anything going wrong. It's not like it was tight and plowing the right-front off of it, and all of a sudden I went into one and blew a right-front and killed it. I don't know where that came from. We had no indication all weekend. Our tire temps were good, so I'm not sure why that happened or if maybe I ran over something." At the time of the red flag, Martin Truex was leading Jimmie Johnson, followed by Kyle Larson, who had started from last place after failing to clear pre-qualifying inspection in time, ran third followed by Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth.

Oil on the track from Matt DiBenedetto's car put the field in disarray, along with Kyle Larson slipping into the wall and a blown tire on Kasey Kahne's No. 5 Chevy, all with Jimmie Johnson having just entered the pits, gave Johnson the lead at the restart, but Martin Truex swept into the lead with Kyle Busch challenging Johnson for second. After the restart, lap 174 saw Danica Patrick blow a right front tire and slow after earlier contact with the wall to bring out another caution. Leaving the pits, Ryan Blaney reported that he may have snapped an axle, heading direct to the garage, where the time limit for crash damage does not apply so the team replaced the left axle shaft and sent him back on the track five laps down to the field.

Kyle Larson brought out another caution with the right front tire blown and a hard impact to the wall with only eight laps left in the third stage of the race. "I got really loose into (Turn) 3 and hit the wall and got a lot of damage and the tire started to go down and then exploded in (Turn) 1," explained Larson. "I just hate it that I made a mistake there in Turn 3 and got in the wall. I was not even running hard up there. I just got loose and then I hit it and it ruined our day. I'm hoping to hold onto the point lead and then go to Dover next week and try to do better." Trevor Bayne got the free pass back onto the lead lap, Truex was still leading, with Kyle Busch second and Jimmie Johnson third.

Denny Hamlin beat the field off of pit road, followed by Kyle Busch, but Ricky Stenhouse stayed out to take the lead heading into the restart, but spun his tires and fell back with Hamlin grabbing the lead, chased by Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, for a one-two-three for Joe Gibbs Racing to close the third stage. Furniture Row Racing took the next two positions, as did Stewart-Haas in the next two.

Lap 328 saw Danica Patrick's car slide straight up the banking in Turn Three with a flat right front tire, giving AJ Allmendinger the free pass. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr headed the field approaching the restart, with Busch opting for the outside lane. Truex leaped into the lead over Busch with Kurt Busch third, trailing his brother.

The final laps of the race turned into a fuel-saving strategic battle, with Jimmie Johnson leading but trying to conserve fuel. The No. 48 Chevy ran out with the white flag about to fly, dashing into the pits from the lead but finishing 17th, the last car on the lead lap. Dillon's team owner, boss and grandfather Richard Childress said: "when Jimmie (Johnson) ran out (of fuel) I said (sigh). I knew that they told him to flip his switch on his going another lap and I thought we might have it. The No. 78 (Martin Truex, Jr.) was coming, but man it was unbelievable. I'm just so happy. Everybody was wanting to see that No. 3 in Winners Circle and we pulled it off tonight," he said. "Unbelievable and to have my grandson Austin Dillon, everybody, I just can't thank enough people. I just can't stop thanking everyone and I know my great friend and everybody here Dale Earnhardt is smiling down tonight."

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE PATRIOTIC CHEVROLET SS – Finished 10th

YOU GOT A TOP 10 IS THAT A GOOD WAY TO FINISH UP YOUR LAST 600?

"Yeah, I supposed considering last week. A couple of guys beat us on fuel, but we got a top 10 there. The car got better last couple of runs. We made a lot of changes and some of them working pretty good. We would have liked to have run a little bit better than that for sure. We think we should be running in the top five every week as a team, so that is still not really good enough, but compared to last week it's a huge improvement.

"We've got to thank Jimmie (Johnson) and the No. 48 guys, Jimmie especially. He was communicating with me all week, calling me, talking on the phone. He would come across the garage and get in my window even during practice. Get out of his car and come talk to me. What a great teammate. I hated to see him run out of gas.

"But, congratulations to Austin (Dillon) man, that is awesome for RCR (Richard Childress Racing) and Richard. Anytime they can win it's pretty cool."

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 GEARWRENCH CHEVROLET SS – Finished 12th - ON HIS NIGHT:
"We had a really good car. We got up to like fourth or fifth, I think at one point. I had a flat tire with about 100 laps to go and so we had to pit under green and it didn't kill our night because we didn't crash, but it got us behind and we restarted 20th. I don't know. I think we drove up to 12th and a couple of guys made it on fuel mileage there. It was a really good night. We had a fast car, went to the back twice and passed a bunch of cars. Just needed a little more luck."

HOW DID THE TRACK CHANGE OVER THE COURSE OF THE NIGHT AND AFTER THE RAIN?
"I thought the track was pretty racy. It seemed like you could run the bottom for 10-15 laps, some guys would stay on the bottom, some of them would move to the middle. The middle was a little bit quicker, the very top never came in, but I mean I felt really good on the restarts no matter what line I was in. I really thought the track was a great balance of not being stuck in the wrong lane. I thought that was all really good."

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET SS – Finished 17th - JUST A COUPLE LAPS SHORT, TELL US ABOUT THE CLOSING LAPS:
"I didn't know we were thinking fuel. I could have done a lot better job with the front side of the run to put us in a better position. Then when I got the news about saving fuel, I did all that I could from that point and just came up a little bit short. A strong performance for the car. Had a couple of weird things go on, on some restarts where I lost some track position. I think the No. 17 (Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.) spun the tires really bad in front of us and I went from I don't know the third or fourth row to way back. So, I had to fight back through some of that, but we still had a look at a win on fuel strategy and I don't even know where we finished. I don't see myself on the board, so it can't be very good."

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined in accident on Lap 292
YOU GOT INTO THE WALL EARLIER AND IT HAPPENED AGAIN AND IT PUT YOU OUT FOR THE NIGHT
"I got really loose into (Turn) 3 and hit the wall and got a lot of damage and the tire started to go down and then exploded in (Turn) 1. I just hate it that I made a mistake there in Turn 3 and got in the wall. I was not even running hard up there. I just got loose and then I hit it and it ruined our day. I'm hoping to hold onto the point lead and then go to Dover next week and try to do better."

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined with a mechanical problem on lap 244
YOU SAID ON THE RADIO YOU THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE THE TRANSMISSION IS THAT WHAT IT WAS?
"It ended up being a rear-end gear. Not really sure what it is, but it blew a huge hole out the back. Just mechanical failure. It was a rough day for our GEICO Military Chevy. We had a fast car, but right on the start the No. 38…some cars checked up in front of us, the No. 38 never really got slowed up and ran into our door and put the fender on the tire. So, we had to come down and do a green flag stop right out of the gate and put us two laps down. So, we were trying things to get ourselves back on the lead lap or get some laps back. Just kind of snake bitten all race and then apparently, the day was kind of doomed from the start and blew a rear-end gear. Unfortunate, we have had a great year so far and we will go on to Dover and be strong there."

KASEY KAHNE, NO. 5 LIFTMASTER CHEVROLET SS – Sidelined with a mechanical issue on lap 244
WHAT HAPPENED?
"Yeah, it was really crazy. My crew chief said there is oil on the track, but I knew I broke something on the car, so actually broke a left-side truck arm. I got underneath the car when I got out and looked at. It was just hanging. I don't know why that happened, but it broke, so then the rear-end was moving around and I couldn't drive it."

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – "Somebody broke and there was just oil everywhere and I couldn't turn. I ran into the back of Chase. Somebody broke in front of him and then he ran over what they broke and then he broke, so there were two cars broke in front of me and just oil everywhere. You couldn't stop and turn. You couldn't do anything. It's a real bummer four our team. We had a really fast Miller Lite Ford and I think we had a shot at winning tonight, but that's how it goes."

MATT DIBENEDETTO – No. 32 Cosmo Ford Fusion – "We were running okay for what we had. Our balance was good and everything was fine. I had no indication of anything going wrong. It's not like it was tight and plowing the right-front off of it, and all of a sudden I went into one and blew a right-front and killed it. I don't know where that came from. We had no indication all weekend. Our tire temps were good, so I'm not sure why that happened or if maybe I ran over something."

KURT BUSCH – No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion – "We did well. We battled and battled and had fun with out. The balance of our car was too tight to start and too loose on the long run. We saw a little bit of that in the All-Star Race, so we tried to compensate. The track came to us with the rain delay. I thought we were a stronger car in the later half of the race. The short run speed we were tight, the long run speed we were loose, but we tried and tried and tried. Thanks to Haas Automation, Monster Energy and Ford. I've got a great group of guys. Tonight was a good run. We finished sixth, but some guy stayed out on fuel and we really gave it our heart tonight."

THE 3 CAR IS BACK IN VICTORY LANE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? "That's impressive. To see Austin win is great for Richard Childress Racing and the heritage of what Richard and Austin Dillon and Dale Sr., everybody from RCR deserves a win like this. The kid has been pushing hard. He was fast tonight and they gambled and it worked out perfect, so I'm happy for them."

MORE POINTS WERE AVAILABLE TONIGHT WITH THE EXTRA STAGE AND YOU FINISHED IN THE TOP 10 OF EACH ONE. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL? "I knew the stages were gonna be important tonight because there were more available. All year we hadn't gained our stage points and it seems like we're working the hardest for the least amount of points. It's like we're running 8th to 12th and sometimes we gain one point in a stage, sometimes we don't get any, but tonight it was a really good pit stop that put us up to fifth. Then we had a bad one and got back to 12th, then another good one and got back up to seventh. We had a couple good restarts at the end and give it our best."

DAVID RAGAN – No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford Fusion – "Our strategy worked great the first half of the race. But we caught a couple unlucky cautions and it got us a couple laps down. I felt like our Jacob Companies Ford was really good while the sun was out for the first half of the race. But after the rain came, I think the track gained some grip and some of the VHT wore off, and our car didn't respond well. So, we struggled a little bit the second half. But we made some gains from Thursday and Saturday, and it's something we can learn from and do a little bit better at the next mile-and-a-half."

CLINT BOWYER – No. 14 Haas Automation Ford Fusion – "We just couldn't get our Ford to turn tonight. We tried everything we knew to help the front end, but we never got it to where we could race with the leaders."

TOYOTA QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, and Blue Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 2nd
How discouraging is it to be beaten on fuel mileage?
"This M&M's Camry was awesome tonight. It was just super fast. I mean we had one of the fastest cars all night long and then the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) was probably the fastest car. There at the end, somehow we ran him down. You know he got a straightaway out on us, but there that last 100 laps we were able to get back to him and pass him so you know that was promising for us there at the end in order to get a second-place finish, but man just so so disappointed. I don't know. We ran our own race. We did what we needed to do and it wasn't – it wasn't the right game. We come up short and finish second."

Do you feel like the JGR cars have the speed you were lacking earlier in the year?
"Yeah, I would guess so. I mean you finish second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, tenth – eleventh, whatever the hell it is. Yeah."

How frustrating is it to get beaten on a fuel gamble?

"This M&M's Camry was really really fast tonight. Our guys did a great job – Adam Stevens (crew chief) and everybody brought me a really fast car. Best car I've ever had at Charlotte and you know, for as far as Truex got out there towards the end, that last stint, I was surprised I could close back in on him and get him there at the end in order to finish second. I don't know. It's a frustrating night, man. I am so so disappointed. I don't know – there's nothing we could've done different. We just ran our own race and did what we needed to do for what we had going on and come up short."

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

Finishing Position: 3rd

A strong car all night. Talk about coming up short at the end.

That stings a little bit, but can't say enough about the guys on the team and everybody in Denver. Everybody on this Bass Pro Toyota did a heck of a job today. We just – we missed it a little bit on our last adjustment. I think if not for that we probably could've gotten the 3 (Austin Dillon). And then lapped traffic is just so tough here. There's a few guys out there that you don't ever know where they're going to be when you get to the corner and it cost you so much time trying to pass them, ultimately that's what got us. It is what it is. Like I said, we're proud of everybody at TRD, at Toyota, Bass Pro and all the partners. Just came up a little short tonight."

What do you take away from a night like tonight and your performance?

"It's two out of three. Last three years, that's two of them we lost on full mileage, so that kind of stinks, but big picture-wise it was a good night. I mean, the Bass Pro Toyota was fast. The guys did a phenomenal job all night long. Got behind a few times, fall back, got the lead and then just – fuel mileage didn't play out our way. We were a little too loose that last run as well and I think had we not been, we probably could've chased him down. We may have caught him on the last lap, but overall I mean, can't say enough about the team and what they're doing. Tonight was tough, man. The cars were a handful. I drove my butt off, but it wasn't to be tonight."

Is it odd that in a 600 mile race you wanted a few more laps?

"A couple more would have been nice, but if we had a couple more Kyle (Busch) would have beat us. He passed us coming to the checkers and I was just hanging on that last run. I was really, really, really loose and I think if we weren't too loose then we probably would have caught the 3 (Austin Dillon) maybe on the last lap. The last 15 laps or so I was really just struggling and hanging on. Of course you get to lapped traffic and you never know where they're going to be, there's five or six cars out there that go in a different lane every time you catch them – they go into the corner on the bottom and they come out of the corner on the top. You wouldn't believe how much time you lose trying to pass those guys. That cost us a ton of time and then we were just too loose trying to get there and burned the right rear off."

How challenging was the car to drive during this race?

"It was really tricky, cars were really, really hard to drive. It was a handful. We would be out there stretching the lead and I'm telling you, if I ever tried to run 99 percent I would about crash. I literally had to drive every lap as hard as I could or it wouldn't drive right. It was very, very tough – long night obviously and it was hot out there. Wish we could have won this one. That's two out of the last three years that we lost them on fuel mileage and we won last year. Bittersweet that's for sure."

MATT KENSETH, No. 20 Circle K Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 4th - How much confidence does this give you moving forward?
"Well, all our cars were faster as a group, you know, which is encouraging to look at the scoreboard. I think they're all up there, fairly close to the front. You know our car didn't drive perfect tonight by any means, but yet we had good speed, so the rest of the year even when we drive decent, we've been kind of slow. It's encouraging we got a little more speed. We still got some work to do. We still got to get driving better. I couldn't beat the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) or the 18 (Kyle Busch) most of the time, maybe on one run. So we still got to get a little bit better, but it was a solid day."

If you didn't spin your tires on that last restart, do you think you could've had something for the cars in front of you?
"Oh, right away you got to bring that up. I don't know. We had really good restarts all night. That last one, I did spin the tires on a little bit and Kyle (Busch) and the 41 (Kurt Busch) got in front of me. I got the 41 back, but the 18 (Kyle Busch) and 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) were in front of me and I couldn't run them down. I didn't pass many cars tonight. We had a solid day on pit road and we had enough speed to hang out where we were at. Just didn't quite have enough to go get the front guys."

Do you feel Joe Gibbs Racing is improving with the speed after tonight's performance?"
All our Camrys were faster this weekend than what we've been as a group, we've been a little bit scattered. Our speed is better and we still have some work to do especially with my car to get it driving better. I still can't run with the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and the 18 (Kyle Busch) if they're out in front of me, they're still better than us. We still have some work to do, but we do have more speed and that's encouraging."

How much do you all rely on information from Furniture Row Racing?
"I don't know, that would be a good question for Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) – their shop is 1000 miles away. I'm not really sure. We try to work as close as we can together, but certainly since they teamed up with JGR, they've been the class of the field with all the Toyotas since they got in one."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 5thHow gratifying is it to take home a top five after a night of challenges?
"It's somewhat. You know we had a really fast car, I think better than a fifth-place car, but we went through a bunch of adversity and I just had one really bad restart with 70 to go and that just – this late in the game when the track cools off, it's too hard to pass to lose that many positions and just tried to do the best I could to battle back from there."

ERIK JONES, No. 77 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Finishing Position: 7th
Talk about the challenges you had tonight, especially pitting with Jimmie Johnson right there next to you.
"Yeah, we – you know it was just a long day overall, altogether with the rain delay, getting the damage early. So just a lot of things going on, but a good learning experience none the less. We had a good 5-Hour Energy Camry. I think getting that damage early kind of put us behind the eight-ball. I don't know if we ever had the same race car we had at the start. I think we had a car that would contend up there with probably Martin (Truex Jr.) and Kyle (Busch) if we did a little work on it and after the damage, never could get it quite as fast again. A good day though. Good to get a good top 10 and you know that's something definitely to build on."

Did it take focus away at times with the emotion building between your team and Jimmie Johnson's team on pit road?
"I was just sitting in there driving. They weren't trying to distract me too much. You got to do what you got to do sometimes getting in the pit box and get your deal done. We're all out here racing, trying to do the best we can and sometimes it's going to work out like that."

How was your race overall tonight?
"It was a good night and a solid night. This was what we needed after some tough races and tonight we just needed a good, solid finish so it was good to get a top-10. I think our car was a little bit better than that. We just got that hole in the nose early and never got the balance the same. The 5-hour Energy Camry was good and it was just nice to have a good night."

How much do you rely on your teammate here at Charlotte?
"It definitely helps when you come into a track where our teammate was so fast last year and obviously we leaned a lot on their setup. I leaned a lot on him and his data and everything else in between. He had another fast car tonight and I think he had a car that could have won the race. At the start of the race I thought we had one that could have contended, but then we got the hole in the nose. Overall, nice to have somebody that's so fast – not only here, but every week to lean on and I try to get information from him when I can to try to get faster and more consistent finishes up front."

Do you feel Furniture Row is one of the top teams right now?
"I think so, Furniture Row is strong right now. At the beginning of the day, had we not got the damage then I think we could have run even better. Martin was really strong all night – led laps, ran up front and got a good finish even with the pit strategy deal. Cool to see that, cool to be a part of that and cool to drive fast race cars. It's always fun to show up and drive race cars that can contend for wins."

DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 Subway Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 11th
How was the car tonight?
"It was good, we made some adjustments to the race car at the beginning of the race and then we made some changes, then we went back to where we started. I felt like we had an eighth to a 10th place car all night long. We were not the best on the long runs, but we were good on the short runs. Just a little behind there at the end with it being a fuel mileage race, we gambled a little bit there and it didn't quite work out 100 percent."

How much did the track change after the rain delay?
"It changed a lot. The rain didn't make it change a lot other than the grip. It was that change we were expecting from it being more hot to when it would be cooler. It worked out well and the guys did an amazing job. The guys did a good job working on the car and tuning up the car and we had a top-10 car and we ended up one place under that."

Unofficial Race Results for the 58th Annual Coca-Cola 600 - Charlotte Motor Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, St3, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 22, Austin Dillon, No. 3 DOW Salutes Veterans Chevrolet, 400, , 7, 10, 45, Running, 1, 2, 5
2) 2, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Red, White, & Blue Toyota, 400, 1, 4, 2, 61, Running, 5, 63, 1
3) 8, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota, 400, 2, 1, 4, 60, Running, 7, 233, 1
4) 4, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Circle K Toyota, 400, 5, 3, 3, 55, Running, , ,
5) 6, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota, 400, , 10, 1, 43, Running, 1, 10, 1
6) 12, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 400, 9, 5, 6, 44, Running, 1, 1,
7) 5, Erik Jones #, No. 77 5-Hour ENERGY Extra Strength Toyota, 400, , 8, 5, 39, Running, , ,
8) 1, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 400, 3, , 7, 41, Running, 3, 45,
9) 17, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 400, , , , 28, Running, , ,
10) 19, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet, 400, , , 9, 29, Running, , ,
11) 20, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 Subway Toyota, 400, , , 8, 29, Running, , ,
12) 11, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 GearWrench Chevrolet, 400, 10, 6, , 31, Running, , ,
13) 16, Paul Menard, No. 27 Knauf/Menards Chevrolet, 400, , , , 24, Running, 1, 2,
14) 9, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Ford, 400, 8, , , 26, Running, , ,
15) 13, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 400, , , , 22, Running, 1, 2,
16) 18, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 400, , , , 21, Running, , ,
17) 14, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 400, 4, 2, , 36, Running, 3, 35,
18) 26, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Harris Teeter Express Lane Chevrolet, 399, , , , 19, Running, , ,
19) 21, Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 399, , , , 18, Running, , ,
20) 29, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex/Cars 3 Chevrolet, 399, , , , 17, Running, , ,
21) 23, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 399, , , , 16, Running, , ,
22) 25, Regan Smith(i), No. 43 United States Air Force Ford, 399, , , , 0, Running, , ,
23) 28, David Ragan, No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford, 397, , , , 14, Running, , ,
24) 7, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 396, 7, , , 17, Running, , ,
25) 15, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Code 3 Associates Ford, 396, , , , 12, Running, 1, 7,
26) 33, * JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 Accell Construction Inc./Hope For The Warriors , 395, , , , 0, Running, , ,
27) 32, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 Bubba Burger Toyota, 393, , , , 10, Running, , ,
28) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 393, , , , 9, Running, , ,
29) 36, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 CharliesSoap.com Chevrolet, 384, , , , 0, Running, , ,
30) 35, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 375, , , , 7, Running, , ,
31) 37, * Derrike Cope, No. 55 Ckezepis Law PLLC Toyota, 327, , , , 6, Running, , ,
32) 40, * Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 Hope For The Warriors Toyota, 315, , , , 5, Engine, , ,
33) 39, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, 292, 6, 9, , 11, Accident, , ,
34) 34, Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 290, , , , 3, Engine, , ,
35) 24, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Liftmaster Chevrolet, 244, , , , 2, Accident, , ,
36) 27, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 242, , , , 1, Rear End, , ,
37) 30, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Cosmo Motors Ford, 139, , , , 1, Accident, , ,
38) 3, Chase Elliott, No. 24 NAPA Chevrolet, 19, , , , 1, Accident, , ,
39) 10, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 19, , , , 1, Accident, , ,
40) 38, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Towne Bank Chevrolet, 18, , , , 1, Rear End, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; (#) Rookie; (*) Non-charter team

Time of Race: 04 Hrs, 19 Mins, 22 Secs. Average Speed: 138.800 MPH; Margin of Victory: 0.835 Seconds

Race Comments: Austin Dillon won the Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his first victory in 133 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts. Before the start of the event, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 5 (rear gear changes) and 13 (unapproved tire change).

Caution Flags: 9 for 53 laps: Laps: 21-27 (#2, 24 Incident Frontstretch / Competition [33]); 102-107 (Stage 1 Conclusion [27]); 143-153 (#32 Incident Turn 1 [Red Flag 1:39:56] [4]); 176-179 (#10 Incident Turn 3 [37]); 202-206 (Stage 2 Conclusion [95]); 247-252 (Fluid On The Track From #13 [22]); 293-297 (#42 Incident Turn 2 [6]); 302-306 (Stage 3 Conclusion [47]); 330-333 (#10 Incident Turn 3 [47]).

 Lead Changes: 23 among 10 drivers: K. Harvick 1; Kyle Busch 2-23; K. Harvick 24-64; Kyle Busch 65-66; J. Johnson 67; D. Patrick 68-74; M. Truex Jr. 75-89; Kyle Busch 90-102; M. Truex Jr. 103; K. Harvick 104-106; M. Truex Jr. 107-176; P. Menard 177-178; M. Truex Jr. 179-248; J. Johnson 249-252; M. Truex Jr. 253-294; R.

Stenhouse Jr. 295-296; D. Hamlin 297-306; Kyle Busch 307-329; M. Truex Jr. 330; Kyle Busch 331-333; M. Truex Jr. 334-367; Kurt Busch 368; J. Johnson 369-398; A. Dillon 399-400.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Martin Truex Jr, #78
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Austin Dillon, #3 10 positions

Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), #18
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, #18

Moog Go the Extra Mile: Denny Hamlin, #11 0.070 sec
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Matt Kenseth, #20

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Erik Jones, #77

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2017, Issue 5, Posted 2:26 AM, 05.29.2017