NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway

NASCAR Cup Series
Venue	Richmond Raceway
Location	Richmond, Virginia, United States
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.75 mi (1.21 km)
Turns	4

Stock car races in theNASCAR Cup Series have been held atRichmond Raceway inRichmond, Virginia since 1953.

A second race in March was also formerly held at the track from 1953 to 2024 until it was moved toMexico for the2025 season.

Cook Out 400

Corporatesponsor	Cook Out
First race	1958 (1958)
Distance	300 miles (482.803 km)
Laps	400 Stage 1: 70 Stage 2: 160 Final stage: 170
Previous names	Richmond 200 (1958) Capital City 200 (1959–1961) Capital City 300 (1962–1968) Capital City 250 (1969) Capital City 500 (1970–1975) Capital City 400 (1976–1980) Wrangler Sanfor-Set 400 (1981–1985) Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 (1986–1987) Miller High Life 400 (1988–1989) Miller Genuine Draft 400 (1990–1995) Miller 400 (1996) Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 (1997–1999) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (2000) Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 with the Looney Tunes (2001–2002) Chevy Rock & Roll 400 (2003–2009) Air Guard 400 (2010) Wonderful Pistachios 400 (2011) Federated Auto Parts 400 (2012–2020 & 2022) Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders (2021)
Most wins (driver)	Richard Petty (7)
Most wins (team)	Joe Gibbs Racing (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (19)

TheCook Out 400 is an annualNASCAR Cup Seriesstock car race held at theRichmond Raceway inRichmond, Virginia.Austin Dillon is the defending winner of this event, having won it in 2025.

Starting in 1991, the race was moved from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night. It became the second night race on the NASCAR schedule, followingBristol which took place a few weeks earlier.

From 2000 to 2009, the race was sponsored in some form byChevrolet. For 2001 and 2002, the race sponsorship was in conjunction withWarner Bros., withLooney Tunes characters featured in several cars' paint jobs. For the 2003–2009 races, the race was known as theChevy Rock and Roll 400, and various cars promoted various rock music acts. The 2010 race saw the sponsorship move from Chevrolet to theAir National Guard, a branch of theUnited States Air Force. The race was sponsored byRoll Global through its Wonderful Pistachios brand, a division of Roll Global subsidiary Paramount Nuts in 2011. On May 2, 2012, Federated Auto Parts and Richmond International Raceway announced that Federated Auto Parts would become the race's sponsor starting in 2012.^[1]

The most notable year of this race is arguably the2013 race, which was marred by ateam orders scheme (referred to asSpingate) designed to manipulate the outcome of the race and Chase positions in the final ten laps afterClint Bowyer intentionally spun out to allowBrian Vickers to pit after a restart from the caution so thatMartin Truex Jr. could secure a spot in the Chase, and a separate manipulation whereDavid Gilliland was asked to slow down to allowJoey Logano to pass so that Logano could secure a spot in theChase. NASCAR penalized the teams involved in the scheme (Michael Waltrip Racing,Penske Racing, andFront Row Motorsports) which therefore eliminated Truex from that year's Chase, whileJeff Gordon was given a thirteenth slot (in a usually twelve-driver battle) in the Chase as a compensation. (Gordon would have been 10th in points and made it in on points instead of Logano if Logano had not passed Gilliland. Had this manipulation have not occurred, Logano would have been 11th in points but still gotten into the Chase by being in one of two wild card positions outside the top 10 in points, which is why he wasn't kicked out of the Chase like Truex. Gordon would have not qualified for a wild card spot due to being winless.)Carl Edwards would win that year's race.

This race was previously the final race before theCup Series playoffs (previously "the Chase") began since NASCAR implemented them for the 2004 season until 2018 when it was moved into the playoffs (replacingthe race atChicagoland which was moved to June). TheBrickyard 400 became the last race before the playoffs in 2018, replacing Richmond, and was again in 2019 and then theCoke Zero Sugar 400 atDaytona became the last race of the playoffs in 2020 and still is today, excluding 2024. In 2022, the race was taken out of the playoffs and moved to August. In 2023, the race was moved again to the last weekend in July. In 2024, it was moved again to August. The track moved to Saturday Night in 2025, and remained that way for 2026.^[2]

When the race was run in close proximity to (and it occasionally being run on)Patriot Day (9/11), thePledge of Allegiance was included as part of the opening ceremony.^{[citation needed]} The 2021 race tweaked its stage length and took place on the 20th anniversary of theSeptember 11 attacks.^[3] The race was called the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders.^[4]

Cook Out Restaurants would become the title sponsor of the race in 2023, replacing Federated Auto Parts.^[5]

In 2024, the race was scheduled as a night race, where it retained that for 2025, however, the race was moved to Saturday night.^[6] The race retained it's Saturday night race in 2026.^[7]

• 1969: Race shortened from 500 laps due to rain.
• 1988: Track reconfigured to 0.75 miles.
• 1991: Race moved to a Saturday night event.
• 2008: Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.^[76]
• 2012: Race started late due to rain; race finished on Sunday approximately 1:30am.^[77]
• 2016, 2017 and 2024: Race extended due to anovertime finish.

Toyota Owners 400

Corporatesponsor	Toyota
First race	1953
Last race	2024
Distance	300 miles (480 km)
Laps	400[78] Stage 1: 80 Stage 2: 155 Final stage: 165
Previous names	Richmond 200 (1953, 1955–1957, 1960–1961) Richmond 100 (1959) Richmond 250 (1962–1968) Richmond 500 (1969–1975) Richmond 400 (1976–1983) Miller High Life 400 (1984–1987) Pontiac Excitement 400 (1988–2003) Chevy American Revolution 400 (2004–2005) Crown Royal 400 (2006) Crown Royal presents the Your Name Here 400 (2007–2011) Capital City 400 presented byVirginia is for Lovers (2012)
Most wins (driver)	Richard Petty (6)
Most wins (team)	Joe Gibbs Racing (11)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Chevrolet (23)

TheToyota Owners 400 was a 400 lapNASCAR Cup Seriesstock car race held at theRichmond Raceway inRichmond, Virginia. From 2007 to 2011, former race title sponsorCrown Royal named the race after the winner of an essay contest duringDaytona Speedweeks. The winner of the first essay contest was Jim Stewart fromHouma, Louisiana, with subsequent contests won by Dan Lowry ofColumbiana, Ohio, and Russ Friedman of Huntington, New York,^[79] with the 2010 race being named for Army veteranHeath Calhoun ofClarksville, Tennessee. Since 2010 only military service members have been eligible to win the contest.^[80] Crown Royal moved the "Your Name Here" sponsorship to theBrickyard 400 beginning in 2012.

For several years, the race was held as a Sunday afternoon event the weekend after theDaytona 500 in February. Lights were installed at the facility in 1991, but the spring race remained during the day. Consistent cold weather, and even a snow delay in 1989, prompted track officials to move the race later in the spring. The race was moved around to May or June and permanently moved from Sunday afternoons to Saturday nights. After a few years, the race eventually fixed as a May race date by 1999. Starting in 2012, the race was held on the last Saturday in April, after the race switched dates with the spring Talladega race. The race returned to Sunday afternoon in 2016 but returned to Saturday night in 2018. The 2020 race was not held due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, being replaced with a race atDarlington Raceway.^[81] The race was removed from the schedule following 2024, as a race will be held atMexico City.^[82]

Denny Hamlin is the final winner of the race.

• 1962: Race shortened due to darkness.
• 1974: Race shortened due to theenergy crisis.
• 1977, 1982, and 2003: Race shortened due to rain.
• 1989: Race rescheduled one month later due to snow.
• 2002: Race started on Saturday night but was finished on Sunday afternoon due to rain.^[154]
• 2007 and 2015: Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.^[155][156]
• 2008, 2013, 2018, and 2024: Race extended due to aNASCAR Overtime finish.
• 2020: Race moved toDarlington due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[148][149]

• Richmond Raceway race results at Racing-Reference

• 1953 establishments in Virginia
• NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway
• Toyota in motorsport
• NASCAR Cup Series races
• Former NASCAR races
• Recurring sporting events established in 1953
• Annual sporting events in the United States

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