Practice

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.
Daniel Suarez drives during practice
Richmond, Virginia - July 29, 2023 : Daniel Suarez, driver of the #99 Jockey Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 35 111.212 24.278 1.221 3 22 24.548 24.386 0 0 0 0 106.372 10 19
10 Aric Almirola Ford 5 115.984 23.279 0.222 1 41 23.476 23.768 23.989 24.164 24.297 24.412 113.621 1 10
6 Brad Keselowski Ford 30 112.089 24.088 1.031 1 45 24.173 24.371 24.601 24.714 24.799 24.875 110.799 1 10
11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 34 111.653 24.182 1.125 5 37 24.272 24.316 24.364 24.476 24.587 24.689 111.038 1 10
15 JJ Yeley Ford 13 114.281 23.626 0.569 2 24 23.780 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
22 Joey Logano Ford 19 113.293 23.832 0.775 2 34 24.030 24.270 24.477 24.640 0 0 111.261 1 10
4 Kevin Harvick Ford 16 113.608 23.766 0.709 1 31 24.058 24.290 24.430 24.563 24.673 0 111.175 1 10
8 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 26 112.721 23.953 0.896 1 31 24.092 24.370 25.251 0 0 0 110.809 1 10
19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota 21 113.027 23.888 0.831 2 42 24.021 24.251 24.431 24.570 24.674 24.774 111.350 1 10
34 Michael McDowell Ford 18 113.369 23.816 0.759 1 32 24.109 24.336 24.569 24.731 0 0 110.963 1 10
51 Ryan Newman Ford 15 113.694 23.748 0.691 2 25 23.963 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 24 112.815 23.933 0.876 1 34 24.255 24.502 25.402 0 0 0 110.212 1 10
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet 12 114.913 23.496 0.439 1 34 23.778 24.062 25.039 25.099 0 0 112.230 1 10
5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 17 113.402 23.809 0.752 2 38 24.043 24.343 24.534 24.673 24.793 24.895 110.938 1 10
48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 29 112.210 24.062 1.005 1 37 24.152 24.421 24.622 24.749 24.852 24.994 110.579 1 10
12 Ryan Blaney Ford 31 112.075 24.091 1.034 1 33 24.195 24.259 24.356 24.509 24.615 24.703 111.299 1 10
7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 11 115.666 23.343 0.286 1 31 23.563 23.925 0 0 0 0 112.677 1 10
77 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 8 115.835 23.309 0.252 2 25 24.560 24.670 0 0 0 0 109.447 6 15
9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 2 116.364 23.203 0.146 2 25 23.442 23.767 0 0 0 0 113.460 1 10
17 Chris Buescher Ford 3 116.134 23.249 0.192 2 26 23.470 23.747 23.968 0 0 0 113.482 1 10
43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 4 116.044 23.267 0.210 1 24 23.501 23.905 0 0 0 0 112.697 1 10
78 BJ McLeod Chevrolet 36 107.608 25.091 2.034 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
41 Ryan Preece Ford 23 112.872 23.921 0.864 3 38 24.033 24.270 24.463 24.604 24.718 24.815 111.263 1 10
99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 10 115.711 23.334 0.277 2 34 23.506 23.839 0 0 0 0 113.118 1 10
1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 22 112.952 23.904 0.847 2 40 24.045 24.271 24.435 24.588 24.698 24.812 111.259 1 10
23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 9 115.766 23.323 0.266 2 35 23.531 23.794 24.024 24.173 24.312 24.435 113.490 1 10
24 William Byron Chevrolet 1 117.101 23.057 0.000 2 28 23.299 23.698 23.966 24.162 0 0 113.740 1 10
45 Tyler Reddick Toyota 14 113.804 23.725 0.668 1 38 24.048 24.309 24.516 24.721 24.836 24.934 111.088 1 10
31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 6 115.974 23.281 0.224 2 29 23.504 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
20 Christopher Bell Toyota 7 115.870 23.302 0.245 1 30 23.580 24.609 24.714 24.785 0 0 109.720 10 19
2 Austin Cindric Ford 33 111.885 24.132 1.075 2 30 24.339 24.401 24.519 24.665 24.766 24.875 110.655 1 10
14 Chase Briscoe Ford 28 112.327 24.037 0.980 1 44 24.183 24.358 24.555 24.682 24.793 24.891 110.853 1 10
21 Harrison Burton Ford 32 111.912 24.126 1.069 4 27 24.221 24.294 24.411 0 0 0 111.143 1 10
42 Noah Gragson Chevrolet 25 112.763 23.944 0.887 1 43 24.200 24.427 24.626 24.736 24.864 24.975 110.548 1 10
54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 27 112.584 23.982 0.925 3 34 24.217 24.459 25.340 0 0 0 110.406 1 10
38 Todd Gilliland Ford 20 113.065 23.880 0.823 1 33 24.132 24.389 24.563 24.727 24.872 0 110.721 1 10