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Austin Dillon won the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 in front of a crowd at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Texas state law allowed up to 67,500 spectators or so to be on hand for Sunday's race, smashing another American sports attendance record since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shut down in March.
Sunday's victory was Dillon's first win of the 2020 season, his third career win, and also seals a postseason berth for the No. 3 team. Dillon led 22 of the 334 laps for Richard Childress Racing.
Tyler Reddick finished second in Sunday's race in RCR's No. 8 Chevrolet. Joey Logano took third, and Kyle Busch came in fourth. Heading into the race, both Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin sat atop the odds. Harvick finished fifth, while Hamlin spun out twice in the final stage of the race and finished 20th. For Harvick, Sunday's start marked a milestone of 700 career starts, a mark only 18 NASCAR drivers have reached.
There was a major wreck shortly after the start of the final stage Sunday, that knocked Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch out of contention. Aric Almirola's made contact with Kyle Busch and then knocked Truex, causing a large clog on the track. Cole Custer, Ryan Preece, Matt Kenseth and Chris Buescher were also involved in the backup.
Jimmie Johnson's finish on Sunday was the sixth straight finish outside the top 10; he finished 26th in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. This is Johnson's last full-time season in the Cup Series. He became the first NASCAR Cup Series driver to test positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, and it forced him to miss the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Johnson's Cup Series winless streak is now extended to 111 Cup Series starts. His last win was at Dover International Speedway in June 2017.
The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Kansas 400 on Thursday, July 23 and will take the weekend off before resuming for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, Aug. 2.
Relive all of the action from the O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 below.
