Win at ALL Costs | NASCAR Richmond Race Review & Analysis

what's the saying don't hate the player hate the game am I allowed to hate [Music] both how's it going y'all my name is Eric welcome to out of the groove that was certainly one of the NASCAR races of all time I have so much so much to get off my chest we'll get to everything in just a moment first ironically this episode is sponsored by Okuma this was sched weeks ago I swear but Okuma America corporation is not only a richer children racing partner they're a broader Motorsports partner that fuels the production of critical components for your favorite drivers race cars okuma's dedication to providing efficient highspeed and high Precision CNC machine tools with cuttingedge Technologies and local service and support pairs perfectly with the craft and passion that fuels the fierce competition of NASCAR head to okuma.com to learn even more about the role they play in the world of NASCAR and Beyond you can also check out their social media links down in the description below thank you to Okuma America Corporation for sponsoring the show I am shook shaken by what I've witnessed tonight we'll talk about the Finish don't you worry we'll take a look at the points the playoff grid what's changed we'll break down other key storylines analyze key performers put this race on The Groovy gauge and more but first I actually want to start by praising Austin Dill the first 399 laps tonight were perhaps the best 399 laps of Austin Dylan's Nascar Cup Series career I have long been a defender of Austin Dylan has he ever fully lived up to expectations likely no he was a Truck Series champion an exfinity Series champion won the Daytona 500 in 2018 but he's never evolved into a Cup Series championship Contender folks love to dunk on him because they don't like the way he's raced people in the past or you know his granddad owns the team but Austin Dylan between 2016 and 2022 qualified for the playoffs five out of seven years and we all agree that Richard Childers racing while good is not Elite nowadays Austin Dylan's record is pretty darn good which is why I often find myself defending him when fans try to pile on now that being said the past nearly two years have been miserable for Austin Dylan 2023 was terrible I think he had 10 dnfs what this season somehow even worse 30 second in points coming into tonight only two top 10 finishes 2024 has been the worst statistical season of Austin Dylan's Cup Series career that's kind of hard to believe absolutely no momentum coming into tonight whatsoever yet for the first 399 laps Austin Dylan Justin Alexander that whole three team put together a phenomenal performance qualified well inside the top 10 they ran inside the top 10 even inside the top five then in stage three they raced their way up to the front battling Champions like Joey Lano one of the Championship favorites Denny Hamlin they take the lead in the closing laps unbelievable Austin Dylan 32nd in points nearly a two-year winless streak they had to drag his old crew chief out of semi-retirement to work with him this year the three team was about to go back to Victory Lane had a non-s super speedway a short track huge playoff upset the story The Script was written and then Ricky Stenhouse Jr does what Ricky Stenhouse Jr does what the what the hell was this what's with this trend of Veteran drivers not being able to keep their cars underneath them with two laps to go Kyle bus at Indie and then Ricky stos this is just inexplicable what is he doing one caution for incident all day and it was Ricky with a lap and a half to go racing for nothing Goodness Me terrible Terri terrible stuff that sets up of course overtime but real quick before we break down this overtime restart I want to compliment Austin Dylan and Justin Alexander for a phenomenal first 399 laps and even the pit crew during overtime they got on and off Pit Road with no issue quick held the lead the first 400 laps really regulation the three car was mint incredible performance they deserved to win this race then overtime happened and this went from the greatest performance of Austin Dylan's career to perhaps the ugliest performance of Austin Dylan's career first he blew the restart I know he gave Denny hlin crap in the spring for jumping the restart a bit but this is why you should go early in the zone he's restarting against Joey Lano great restarter and he waits and waits and waits until the second restart zone line that's too long of course the 22 gets a great jump rides the outside momentum and clears to take the lead cleanly straight up and fairly so there's strike one Austin Dylan blows the re start whoops strike two coming to three and four for the final time Austin Dylan is not in Joey lano's zip Cod he's a good 34 five car links back he floors it doesn't lift drives into the back ofo spins the 22 out into the outside wall that's one way to get rid of the leader I suppose and then strike three he comes down the track and right hooks Denny Hamlin into the outside wall finishes the job Austin Dylan crosses the line first Carnage behind him created by Him Austin celebrates he is now locked into the Nascar Cup series playoffs he snaps again a nearly 2year winless streak he gets the trophy but boy it was ugly dare I say hideous here's my take I already know what some fans are going to write in the comments below don't hate the player hate the game NASCAR's format prioritizes winning above all else one win and all your problems go away your terrible season whoosh gone just like that you're in the playoffs so much on on the line difference between finishing first and second in this race if you're Austin Dylan is immense you got to do what you got to do don't hate the player hate the format that's valid and to my credit go back to the first year of out of the Grove 2016 the show looked a lot different back then I have always been a Critic of the winin your in part of this format sometimes it's fun creates big moments but by and large I've never been a huge fan of a 25th 30th Place guy winning at Daytona in July or getting a range shortened Pocono win to nabba spot like I've never been a huge fan of that I've been very consistent but I understand fans are going to say hey Austin Dylan did what he had to do and under this format you're exactly right but that's why I truly believe this may be the moment that Nascar has to look in the mirror and decide if they like what they have become because there's a line between Sport and entertainment NASCAR usually floats in this GR area today thanks to Austin Dylan they look like a joke compared to other worldwide major Motorsports series wildly entertaining yes lots to discuss plenty to react to but was it good sport no absolutely not did it take any skill to drive in four carlink Steep and plow through the 22 absolutely not did it take any skill to turn left and right hook the 11 car on Corner exit absolutely not I could do that you could do that did the 11 or the 22 do anything to deserve retaliation from Austin Dylan absolutely not I know folks hate Hamlin and legano but if we just remove the drivers themselves from the scenario and you tell me that one car came flying in from way back wrecked one guy and then when another dude tried to sneak by they wrecked him as well would you say it was fair or would you say it was a skillful display of driving was it good sport I would hope you would say no I would hope most all of us can agree that that's not good sportsmanship a lot of folks are comparing Austin Dylan tonight to the late great Dale nhart who of course also drove the number three may I remind you that when Dale Earnhart wrecked Terry lebani at Bristol in the 90s he was booed he wasn't cheered he wasn't glamorized the way we now sort of glamorize that era no he was booed by the majority of fans in Tennessee that night I hope we as a fan base as an industry can kind of get back to that Austin Dylan tonight is the rightful winner not arguing NASCAR should now retroactively strip him of his victory I think Austin Dylan should get the trophy he should get the playoff spot but like I said this may have crossed enough of a line that it causes NASCAR before next year to look into how they officiate things I don't want NASCAR to turn into the FIA where every little bump and run or bump draft is scrutinized but like tonight we reportedly have radio transmission from Austin Dylan's team telling him to wreck the 11 wreck him wreck him wreck him Austin Dyan then wrecks the 11 right rears him into the wall to me when we have that kind of damning glaring evidence I think in the future wind should be taken away not this one because there really is no past prent I'm not saying they should strip Austin Dylan of this one I'm saying next year let's rewrite the rulebook and if Austin Dylan or any other driver wins a race in similar fashion then no I don't think they should get credit I hope I'm making myself clear I don't think it would be fair to punish Austin Dylan tonight because Nascar has been very hands-off up to this point they don't strip people of Wis for aggressive driving they don't do that so I'm not saying they should take this win away now that being said a fine maybe something later in the week I mean there is precedent for that we'll see I'm saying going forward NASCAR should look in the mirror and realize that they are a sport first entertaining yes but good sport should come first and what we saw tonight at the finish was not good sport I hope most of us can agree on that even if maybe you're not a Denny Hamlin fan or a joey Lano fan let's take a look at the rest of the top 10 finishers tonight Denny Hamlin comes home second started on pole raced inside the top five all day gets a good result but not the one I'm sure he was hoping for Tyler reck third Bubba Wallace fourth tremendous night for 2311 racing Bubba Wallace especially he's battling for one of those final playoff spots we'll look at the points in a moment but Bubba entered tonight minus 7 he earned points in both stages gets a top five finish mission accomplished the 23 team stays hot this summer and on that note Ross Chastain track house has been kind of slump and they brought the speed tonight Chastain trying to hold off Bubba Wallace gets a top five just didn't earn the stage points though so again we'll look at the standings in a moment things have changed just a little bit especially with Austin Dylan winning I guess that goes without saying Christopher Bell ends up sixth a speeding penalty in stage three took him out of contention I think Bell was probably the fastest car tonight he did win the opening stage so he adds to his stage win total adds a playoff point so that's good but disappointing he wasn't in contention for the win he did have a backup crew Chief this week Adam Stevens injury was back at the War Room at jgr calling some shots from there quiet night for Kyle lson All Things Considered but he still scores a Seventh Place finish how about Carson josar I think he was 10th or 11th before the overtime he gets a top 10 good for him great run for the rookie quiet night for hendrik overall I know lson gets a top 10 so does Chase Elliot but that was about the best we saw from them I think Chase a couple times snuck into the top five Larsson on strategy but we didn't hear much from Byron or Bowman so just kind of an okay night for Hendrick Motorsports maybe something to watch 10th for Daniel Suarez man Matt swederski that whole team employed some wild strategy to game track position early you want to Stage doing it playoff point then faded at the start of stage three battled his way back held on on the final restart despite being at a tire disadvantage I would say to get a top 10 well done roller coaster of a week for Daniel Suarez ends on a high note actually it really hasn't been a roller coaster Suarez has been riding a high for a few weeks now wedding new contract this winning in Brazil yeah I guess it's not really roller coaster if it's just way up here it's just like constantly a lift Hill if if like a roller coaster was just the lift hill going up that's been Daniel Suarez the past few weeks shout out Kyle Bush coming back to finish 12 loose wheel on Pit Road pinned him a lap down that team also had to employ some aggressive Tire strategy using the softer option tires to make up position try to get back on the lead lap he ends up 12th good job good perseverance I know it's going to sting for Kyle bus fans saying the other RCR car go to Victory Lane but this just goes to show what I've been saying all along you got to keep an eye on next season of course rebuild retool hit the ground running in 2025 but you can't give up on 2024 like some have suggested one win one week all your problems go away Austin Dylan just showed that RCR has been off this year but the proof is in the pudding they can still hit on it any given weekend they shouldn't throw in the towel just because this season has been less than Stell thus far you never know what kind of magic you could capture in a single weekend so Kyle bus 12 those are some of your top finishers a couple I want to mention as well Martin TRX Jr raced in the top five top 10 all night blows a motor late in this race another engine problem for Joe Gibbs Racing it's not getting better if anything it's getting worse these problems are coming up more frequently I think Tai Gibbs had issues at both Pocono and Indie back toback and then the very next race here TRX has an issue it's like every week now a Gibbs car is having some sort of technical malfunction the playoffs are around the corner this is not the time to be having these sorts of issues very very concerning no doubt but there you go those are some of your top finishers from today's race at Richmond now real quick let's take a look at the playoff grid oh my goodness Austin Dylan now is in the playoffs but as you can see Bubba Wallace leap frogged both Ros Chastain and Chris Bucher it's a slim margin but a margin nonetheless Wallace holding on to the final playoff spot plus three buer and Chastain both three points behind I forgot to mention Chris buser but another potentially good run going top 10 loose wheel on Pit Road fell a lap down never fully recovered just another mistake costing this 17 team crucial points Midway through the season but yeah wow the playoff bubble is extremely close especially now that Austin Dylan is a race winner shoot Ty Gibbs kind of a quiet night I just mentioned those previous engine issues only 19 points to the good uh now he's W as well for sure real quick before we put this race on The Groovy gauge quick thoughts on the option versus prime tires I think it was a success tonight personally like we saw a dramatic difference between the two worn out racetrack longer stages of course much better effect than what we saw at North wilsor earlier in this season I think this is the move going forward in fact I hope goody year continues to get aggressive maybe one day these option the softer tires just become the tire I think Denny Hamlin Kyle Bush maybe a few others echoed similar comments this weekend I'd be curious to hear what drivers had to say after the race maybe we'll talk about it this week I like that we're giving the teams choices of tires during the race itself but maybe for Simplicity sake if we have just one great tire that produces great falloff good racing maybe we just commit to that stick to that I don't know it's still early in the process but I overall really enjoyed what the Prime versus option Tire component brought to this race anyway let's put this thing on the groove gauge The Groovy gauge is powered by Electric ebikes at electri e bikes.com to learn more I'm going to give tonight's Richmond Raceway NASCAR return a I'm going to go 70% the ugly last lap taints it a little although again I think Austin Dylan for 400 laps was the most deserving winner I just hate that's ultimately how he got it done the strategy racing up to that point was phenomenal despite no natural cautions before lap 399 I thought this was a compelling race not a barn burner by any means but better than most recent Richmond races perhaps that's the option Tire Factor coming into play I'm going to go 70% the finish of course going to get everyone talking plenty of content and controversy but the race itself 70% that's my score I think that's all I've got for tonight boy can't wait to read the comments on this one while you're down there leave a like if you enjoyed this video subscribe for more NASCAR content commentary news rumors race Recaps and so much more and a big thank you to my very generous patreon supporters this push to the playoffs is off to a spicy start Michigan next week then Daytona then Darlington boy it's not slowing down is it thanks for watching this episode folks have a wonderful rest of your weekend have a great start to your week if you're watching this on Monday I'll talk to you again real soon [Music] oh [Music]