In the past two years of NASCAR Cup Series racing, Austin Dillon has two wins, and they've both come at the same track.
On August 11th, 2024, he won in highly controversial fashion after intentionally wrecking both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin in the final seconds of the race. He was later removed from the playoffs for that while keeping the win. But what a lot of people forget is that Dillon was well on his way to winning that race before a late-race caution and the ensuing chaos.
Dillon made sure people remembered that one year later. On August 16th, 2025, Dillon led 107 of 400 laps, winning at Richmond yet again and in even more dominant fashion. It was the only time in Dillon's entire Cup career where he managed to lead 100+ laps in a single race.
Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
And while rumors and allegations swirled about a JGR setup that may have found its way into the RCR shop, the fact remains that Dillon has been strong at the Virginia short track for years. Before his 2025 win, Dillon's record for laps led in a single race was 55 laps -- also at Richmond, during the 2020 season. He finished fourth in that race. He has eight top tens in 22 starts there, which is more top tens than he has at any other track beyond Daytona (where he has also won twice).
Unlike last year, a victory at Richmond won't launch Dillon into the playoffs as the 'win and you're in' format is gone. But chasing checkered flags is still everything to these drivers, and a win is also sorely needed by the No. 3 RCR team as Dillon has yet to score another top five since his most recent Richmond win. It would also be very emotional for the entire organization, as they seek their first Cup win since the tragic passing of Kyle Busch in May.
The new Chevrolet body may be a roadblock that Dillon and all of the bowties continue to struggle with. Even the mighty Hendrick Motorsports is having an off-year as they adjust to the updated ZL1.
Dillon sits 27th in the standings with just three top tens this year -- a sixth at Watkins Glen, a seventh at Atlanta, and a tenth at Iowa just last weekend.
Austin Dillon with team owner and grandfather Richard Childress
Crew chief Richard Boswell joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio this week, talking about their chances. He pointed to execution as the key, but admitted "we need to make ourselves a little bit better. We know that everyone else is going to go through and study what Austin does to be fast there, and they're going to work on their cars to put a little more downforce in them and make their cars drive a little bit better. And we have to do all the same things.
"I think the biggest thing is that we can't beat ourselves. We can't think that we have to change everything to be better. Just make minor tweaks to what we have and our baseline, and make it a little bit better. A couple hundredths of laptime goes a long way, and that doesn't take reinventing the wheel."
If Dillon manages to pull off the Richmond hat trick, it will put him into a very small and elite club. The last driver to win three consecutive Cup races at Richmond was Bobby Allison over 40 years ago in 1982. However, the record belongs to Richard Petty, and that's not going to change anytime soon. 'The King' won seven straight Cup races at Richmond between 1970 and 1975.
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