Hot day for Dillon and fans in stands

FORT WORTH — Austin Dillon stayed in front after a restart with two laps to go and beat rookie teammate Tyler Reddick to the checkered flag at Texas, giving Richard Childress Racing its first 1-2 NASCAR Cup finish in nine years.

With spectators spread out in the stands on a scorching Sunday, a very dehydrated Dillon got the checkered flag and did some celebratory burnouts on the frontstretch before going to the infield care center.

“I got a couple IVs in me, feeling great. I felt great once I kind of got in air conditioner. I was wanting to come back out because it stinks to win the race and you’re falling out,” Dillon said when finally on his postrace Zoom call. “But I gave it all. I left it all out there.”

Dillon raced to his third career win and first since Daytona at the start of the 2018 season. It was Dillon and Reddick in the front on the final three restarts, the first after an incident with 29 laps left that shuffled the fast car of Ryan Blaney to a lap back.

“Not bad for a silver spoon kid, huh?” Dillon, the grandson of Childress, said immediately after the race. “Tyler Reddick, he raced me clean. 1-2 for RCR. This has been coming. We’ve had good cars all year. I’ve got my baby Ace back home, my wife. I’m just so happy.” There were an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 spectators at the track, where it reached 97 degrees late in the first summertime Cup race at Texas — it was supposed to be a spring race nearly four months ago.