NASCAR at Texas 2020 Results: Austin Dillon Clinches Playoff Spot with Win
July 19, 2020
It was a good day for Richard Childress Racing at the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday.
Teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick finished first and second, respectively, at the Texas Motor Speedway. It was Dillon's third career victory, giving the Cup Series another surprise winner.
As NASCAR noted, Dillon clinched a playoff spot with the result.
"Good strategy, good race cars, great race team and the good Lord above. Just stuck with it until the end..." Dillon said after the race, per PRN. "We're in the playoffs and the All-Star Race. We didn't make it last week and it hurt me pretty bad."
Joey Logano, who finished third, said he was surprised he wasn't able to catch Dillon or Reddick down the stretch.
Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Ryan Blaney won the first two stages before dropping to seventh overall.
Last week's surprise was Cole Custer winning at the Kentucky Speedway. Like Dillon, he came from outside playoff positioning to secure a berth. Things didn't go so smoothly at Texas, however, as he finished 39th on Sunday after getting caught up in a multi-car crash.
"It's always one of the most humbling sports you can be a part of," he said on NBCSN broadcast.
That crash was a major one and also included Harvick, Kurt and Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Chris Buescher, Aric Almirola, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Preece.
Jimmie Johnson also had a tough day, finishing 26th overall after two separate penalties for crew violations and a run-in with the wall.
Worse, Dillon's win will make qualifying for the playoffs even trickier for Johnson, who came into the day 15th in the standings. His final season before retirement is starting to feel a touch snakebitten.
The Cup Series now shifts to the Kansas Speedway on Thursday for the Super Start Batteries 400 at 7:30 p.m. ET.