Race Lineup

Cook Out 400

Sunday, July 30th, 2023

Richmond Raceway, Richmond, VA

  • 16 Chevrolet
  • 14 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Richmond Raceway
  • Cook Out 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Tyler Reddick
  • Age: 27
  • Team : No. 45 - Xfinity 10G Network Toyota
  • Owner: Michael Jordan
  • Crew Chief: Billy Scott
  • Tyler Reddick won the Pole Award for the Cook Out 400 with a lap of 23.749 seconds, 113.689 mph.
  • This is his fifth pole in 132 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first pole and 14th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in seven races at Richmond Raceway.
  • Kyle Busch (second) posted his 10th top-10 start of 2023 and his 21st in 36 races at Richmond Raceway.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 22nd top-10 start at Richmond Raceway. It is his 11th in 22 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (seventh) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, July 30th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Chris Buescher captures Playoff berth with win at Richmond

Chris Buescher capped Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s dominant day at Richmond (Va.) Raceway with a trophy, holding off the field on a restart with three laps remaining to win the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 Sunday afternoon – his and the RFK team’s first victory of the season.

Buescher and his teammate Brad Keselowski (also a co-owner of RFK) combined to lead a race-best 190-of-400 laps – Buescher’s 88 laps out front was the most laps he’s ever led in a race in his eight-year NASCAR Cup Series career. And it all results in an important automatic bid into the 16-driver Playoff field with only four races remaining in the regular season.

Buescher’s No. 17 RFK Ford ultimately held off last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin by a slight .549-seconds although Buescher had held more than a five-second advantage on Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota up until that caution flag flew for an accident involving Noah Gragson and Daniel Suarez in the closing laps.

“It was smooth sailing trying to take care of this Fastenal Mustang, it was so good and trying to take care of it there and about the time (crew chief) Scott (Graves) said over the radio ‘It’s working perfect, keep it up,’ and then there’s a caution," said Buescher with a smile.

“But we were so strong during the race, I had a good feeling there about it," added Buescher who now has three career NASCAR Cup Series wins. “So awesome to pull it off. I’m proud of everybody. That was a long way from the back."

That late-race yellow flag was the only caution flag on the day other than the two stage breaks. And the afternoon racing at the Richmond three-quarter mile track was physically demanding under intense heat – over 130-degrees inside the race car. As seventh-place finisher Martin Truex Jr. said smiling after the race, “my cheek feels like it’s sunburned, it was like a hair dryer blowing on you."

The 30-year old Texas native Buescher, however, handled the heat and the field, starting 26th but steadily working his way forward. He first cracked into the Top-5 by lap 160 of the 400-lap race, chasing down then-leaders Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Keselowski and Hamlin.

For a race with so many green flag laps, it was actually issues on pit road that thwarted several winning efforts, not problems racing on the track.

Wallace’s 80 laps out front mid-race in the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota marked the most laps led in a single race in his career. But he ultimately had to play catch-up when his team had a slow tire change on green flag pit stop on Lap 175. He finished 12th.

With 56 laps remaining, race polesitter and Wallace’s 23XI teammate Tyler Reddick got flagged for violating the commitment line coming to pit road for green flag stop, relegating him from running among the Top-3 to desperately trying to remain on the lead lap with the laps counting down. He finished 16th after leading 81 laps early – every lap of Stage 1 en route to claiming his fourth stage win.

Similarly, Keselowski suffered a misstep in the pits after his No. 6 RFK Ford led a race-best 102 laps. He made an awkward turn into his pit during a green flag stop with 115 laps remaining and it cost just enough time to allow his teammate Buescher to take the lead with under 100 laps remaining.

“We wanted to finish one-two, that’s the ultimate goal, but we still had a heckuva day," said Keselowski, who finished sixth and won Stage Two - his third stage win of the season.

Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch – the all-time active winner at Richmond – finished third; his best showing on a short track this season. Team Penske’s Joey Logano rallied in the late laps to finish fourth and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece turned in his best showing of the season with a fifth place run.

Keselowski and Truex finished sixth and seventh followed by SHR’s Aric Almirola, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and SHR’s Kevin Harvick. Chase Briscoe finished 11th giving SHR one of its best full team efforts of the season – all four cars inside the Top-11.

Every car in the 36-car field finished the race, the first time the full field was running at the end since 2018.

Buescher is now the 12th driver to win a race in 2023, leaving four positions still available for a new winner or the top drivers in points. Harvick and Keselowski hold more than a 100-point advantage on the 16th place cutoff. Wallace is up 54 points and Front Row Motorsports driver Michael McDowell holds an 18-point buffer on Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Ty Gibbs for that 16th place position. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger is 22 points behind McDowell.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 400
  • Margin of Victory: 0.549 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 2 Minutes 13 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 98.783
  • Cautions: 3 for 21 laps
  • Lead Changes: 18
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,909 (10.3 passes per green flag lap)

  • Richmond Raceway
  • Cook Out 400
  • Race Winner: Chris Buescher
  • Age: 30
  • Team : No. 17 - Fastenal Ford
  • Owner: John Henry
  • Crew Chief: Scott Graves
  • Chris Buescher won the Cook Out 400, his third victory in 279 Cup Series races.
  • This is his first victory and ninth top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 15 races at Richmond Raceway.
  • Denny Hamlin (second) posted his 22nd top-10 finish in 34 races at Richmond Raceway. It is his 10th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Kyle Busch (third) posted his 28th top-10 finish in 36 races at Richmond Raceway.
  • Ty Gibbs (15th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 39 points over Denny Hamlin.
Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch lead the field for the green flag
Richmond, Virginia - July 30, 2023 : Alex Bowman, driver of the (48) Ally Chevrolet, and Kyle Busch, driver of the (8) 3CHI Chevrolet, lead the field for the green flag during the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
David JensenGetty Images
Race lineup for the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway
START VEH # DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 45 Tyler Reddick Toyota Xfinity 10G Network 23xi Racing Billy Scott
2 8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet X World Wallet Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Mavis Tires & Brakes Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
4 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet UniFirst Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
5 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota McDonald's 23xi Racing Bootie Barker
6 24 William Byron Chevrolet Liberty University Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
7 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota He Gets us Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gayle
8 4 Kevin Harvick Ford Rheem Stewart-haas Racing Rodney Childers
9 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet Kleenex Jtg Daugherty Racing Mike Kelley
10 19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
11 41 Ryan Preece Ford United Rentals Stewart-haas Racing Chad Johnston
12 42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet Sunseeker Resort Legacy Motor Club Luke Lambert
13 6 Brad Keselowski Ford BuildSubmarines.com Rfk Racing Matt McCall
14 5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet HendrickCars.com Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
15 48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Blake Harris
16 38 Todd Gilliland Ford Speedy Cash Front Row Motorsports Ryan Bergenty
17 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops Club Richard Childress Racing Keith Rodden
18 34 Michael McDowell Ford StageFront.VIP Front Row Motorsports Travis Peterson
19 1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet Worldwide Express Trackhouse Racing Phil Surgen
20 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Rush Truck Centers Stewart-haas Racing Richard Boswell
21 78 BJ McLeod Chevrolet TBA Live Fast Motorsports David Ingram
22 21 Harrison Burton Ford DEX Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson
23 22 Joey Logano Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
24 10 Aric Almirola Ford Smithfield Stewart-haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
25 12 Ryan Blaney Ford BodyArmor Team Penske Jonathan Hassler
26 17 Chris Buescher Ford Fastenal Rfk Racing Scott Graves
27 43 Erik Jones Chevrolet Allegiant Legacy Motor Club Dave Elenz
28 31 Justin Haley Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
29 20 Christopher Bell Toyota MAC Tools Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
30 2 Austin Cindric Ford Menards\Jack Links Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
31 7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet FOE Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
32 51 Ryan Newman Ford Parts Plus/Biohaven Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
33 99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet Jockey Trackhouse Racing Travis Mack
34 77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet Gainbridge Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
35 15 JJ Yeley Ford TBA Rick Ware Racing Jerry Kelley
36 16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet TBA Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski