Saturday night in Richmond, Austin Dillon repeated his win from 2024 in less controversial fashion this time around. It was like we got to watch what the finish of last year’s race would have been without the late caution. Dillon’s on the way to the NASCAR Playoffs again. Over the last few seasons, there have […]
Saturday night in Richmond, Austin Dillon repeated his win from 2024 in less controversial fashion this time around. It was like we got to watch what the finish of last year’s race would have been without the late caution. Dillon’s on the way to the NASCAR Playoffs again.
Over the last few seasons, there have been questions about Richard Childress Racing. There have been issues with the pit crews, drivers, crew chief changes, and more. While Kyle Busch is still searching for his first win since 2023, Austin Dillon has bagged two wins in that time.
When Dillon is finished with racing, he likely has a place in the front office at RCR waiting for him. So, his input on the team and its direction is important even now as a driver. He spoke about the disagreements he and his grandfather have had along this journey.
“We have knock-down, drag-outs between the two of us,” Austin Dillon said in the post-race press conference. He went further than that.
“We get into arguments to the point of frustration. It’s very hard when he’s your grandfather to have an argument with him because you don’t want to argue about it. There’s certain directions we have to go to move this boat forward, right? I’m constantly pushing him. My brother has stepped in now and trying to help as well. Between the two of us, we want to try to take some of the load off of him as we go.
“Yeah, but he’s very loyal to a fault, almost. He really takes great care of those that are around him. We just push him to try and make change at some point in time. He usually has a way about it when you tell him one thing, and he’s going to get upset about it. Then two weeks later, turn around, ‘What do you think about this?’ ‘That’s a great idea, man.’ I love that.”
Austin Dillon is in the NASCAR Playoffs. But winning this Richmond race meant more than just making the postseason. I was redemption. For him and his grandfather.
“At his age, too. One thing that I think really hurt him last year, this Richmond race, going over this process, it stung to him because he felt like NASCAR kind of let him down in a way. They had to make a call. I got over it. He doesn’t get over those type of things.
“Hopefully, this lets him sleep at night again to that point because this sport is special. It’s given our family a living and a lot of other families a living.”
How much longer does Austin Dillon have left in the Cup Series? If he is having more of a role in the operations side of things, what does that mean for RCR in the near future?
Category: General Sports
