Austin Dillon shook up the Cup Series playoff picture in a big way, using the chrome horn on both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in overtime to win the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway and lock up his spot in the postseason.
NASCAR introduced a new wrinkle to the pit strategy for this weekend’s race at The Action Track. Along with six sets of the normal primary Goodyear tires, each team had two sets of option tires with more grip but higher wear than the primary tires.
Decisions made by race teams on when to utilize those option tires played a big part in determining the final running order.
Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell Soar After Early Option Tire Calls
Going into Sunday’s race, Daniel Suarez was not widely considered a contender at Richmond, starting back in 21st.
That all changed during the lap 75 pit stops following stage one. Suarez’s crew chief Travis Mack called for four option tires for his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. Suarez immediately reaped the benefits, restarting 16th and maneuvering his way to the lead in just 13 green flag laps.
Through the shuffling of the field through various tire strategies, Suarez retained his track position to win stage two and pick up an all-important playoff point.
Though Suarez was on the wrong end of the option tires in overtime, he did bring it home in the 10th position, a much better finish than he would have had without rolling the dice and being the one of the first two drivers on the option tires.
“I feel the biggest advantage of the red [option] tires was on restarts,” Suarez said postrace. “Under the green flag, but on restarts, it was huge.
“We knew everyone was going to put on the option tires in the last stage, and if everyone has the option tires, it’s not that big of an advantage. We really wanted to play outside the box, and I think it worked out good for us.”
The other driver who got option tires on lap 75 was Michael McDowell, with crew chief Travis Peterson making the call for the No. 34 team.
McDowell, who had to restart at the back as the free pass car, weaved his way through the pack to a sixth-place finish in stage two. Though McDowell fell to 15th at the finish, the early option tire call earned him a significant net gain from his starting spot of 28th.
There is no question that the option tires wound up making a bigger difference on the older surface at Richmond than they were during the All-Star Race at North…
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