Austin Dillon 1-on-1: On trying to repeat at Daytona, recruiting Kyle Busch to RCR

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Austin Dillon provided a walk-off moment to end the 2022 NASCAR regular season when he won the finale at Daytona International Speedway to vault himself into the Cup Series playoffs.

The 2018 Daytona 500 champion will need a repeat Saturday night if he wants to make the 2023 playoffs. He sits 29th in the standings; he’d be 23rd if not for a 60-point penalty for a technical infraction earlier this year.

Dillon spoke to FOX Sports prior to the race last Sunday at Watkins Glen about the win a year ago, trying to repeat, his season with new crew chief Keith Rodden, driving the famous No. 3 car and what his making the first call to Kyle Busch to get him to come to Richard Childress Racing did for his status in the shop.

First off, how would you characterize your season and now going into Daytona looking for that win?

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I’d say our season has just been up and down and frustrating at times. Obviously, we headed in the right direction at the beginning of the year, got the big points penalty and haven’t been able to fight our way out of it. We had some DNFs this year that we usually don’t have on the 3 team, wrecking out at some places that we were running well at. So yeah, it’s been a tough year. We found some rhythm here as of late and just trying to progress on that.

You’ve lived the ups and downs to this sport. Do you just look at this season as it’s just one of those things?

For sure, you look back at this sport and there’s always a couple of guys that have years that they’ve got speed and they just don’t make the playoffs or something happens. I feel like that’s our year. We would be in the points hunt, I believe, were a couple things different. Yeah, it’s frustrating. But you’ll have that. You’ve got to get through the peaks and the valleys and come out the other side.

Looking back to a year ago, what was the feeling when you took that checkered flag at Daytona to make the playoffs?

It’s elation. Everything you’re fighting for all year long, it came down to Daytona and taking the checkered flag. A lot went into that race and all the stuff that happened during the race — the rain delay, and being able to get it done when it mattered at the end was special. It’s a cool place to come for the last race to the playoffs because you never know what’s going to happen.

Can you repeat it? How tough is it to do that two years in a row?

It’s hard to win in this sport, no matter what. But I have faith in that we can get it done.

What is the key to winning at Daytona? You have won the 500 and you have won the cut-off race. What is the key and is it any different this year than in past years?

It’s the same every year at Daytona. You’ve got to be there at the end to have a chance to win. I do think there’s certain guys that find themselves in those winning positions more often than not. A fast car helps really start the weekend off the best to give you the best percentage. So hopefully these guys to the left to me (including competition director Andy Petree, who is sitting next to him during the interview) give me a really good piece, big ECR power, I’ll qualify on the pole and I’ll feel really good about it.

Dillon to Petree: Petree, we’re going to qualify on the pole, right?

Petree: We should be close.

Dillon to Petree: No, like we’re going to on purpose?

Petree: Yeah, we are going to do it.

Dillon: We’re going to qualify on the pole.

If you’re fast and on the pole and other Chevys don’t have specific people on their team to push, do you feel like you’ll get a lot of help in the draft?

There’s a lot of Chevys that aren’t in right now. You’ve got Chase [Elliott] and [Alex] Bowman — everybody’s going to be working, trying to figure that out. Last year, we were in an advantageous situation, having a group help us when they could. But everybody got wiped out, so it was really just me and Tyler [Reddick] at the end. The situation changes every lap at Daytona, so you’ve just got to stay fluid and block and do whatever it takes to keep yourself up front, be smart about the positions you put yourself in. 

If you don’t make the playoffs, how would you look toward the last 10 races? What would you want to look for trying to build for next year?

Being as aggressive as we can be trying to win a race, trying to make sure that Keith [Rodden] and I are on the same page each and every week. This is our first year together, and we’ve got to make sure that we do our jobs out there and try and get a win for RCR. The 8 team [of Kyle Busch] was able to bring home three so far this season, and we also want to be as supportive as we can for them — we want to be aggressive for them, if we’re not in the playoffs, to help get to a championship no matter what. That’s the goal for RCR: Get to a championship.

Do you watch Kyle Busch’s success here with happiness or pride knowing that you were a key person in getting him here?

Pride. It’s awesome having a first-ballot Hall of Famer on our team right now and everybody at the shop has a really good feeling about what we’re doing this year.

Do you think it gives you any more credit just as far as within the shop of helping make decisions about the future?

If anything, everybody knows where my heart is and that’s for RCR to succeed. Whatever it takes.

Because they know that you brought in somebody who potentially would outrun you?

Exactly. He’s one of the best all-time racers in NASCAR history. So hoping that we can give him the best and put the 3 team right there beside him each and every week.

Speaking of the No. 3, every time you step in, you step into history. How has it changed over the years or has it at all driving the 3?

It’s changed from time to time. I think last year, the TV show [“Austin Dillon’s Life In The Fast Lane”] let people really kind of know how I am as a person and I found a lot of fans from that. Going out and signing autographs this year has been fun and enjoyable. And we’ve got a lot of supportive people for the RCR group, the 3 team and all those fans out there.

And how many more years of racing do you have left in you? Because the rumor mill keeps saying, hey, you might be getting tired of it.

No, I’m happy right now. So we’ll keep grinding away and give it all we’ve got.

What To Watch For

Even with a clear forecast, expect this race to be wild as drivers know this will be their last chance to make the playoffs.

There are several drivers who have won Cup races at Daytona — Aric Almirola, Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley and Erik Jones — who need a win to get into the playoffs.

Four of the big wrecks last year happened before the rain came as drivers jockeyed for position. 

And the end of the stages could get crazy as well because several drivers could improve their regular-season finish position — and earn more playoff points — depending on the points earned Saturday.

Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez also still have a chance to get in on points (as long as there is no winner from the 15 drivers who already have qualified for the playoffs), although Wallace has a 32-point edge on Gibbs and 43 points on Suarez.

But maybe the biggest thing to watch for: Who do Hendrick and Chevrolet drivers help if they have a choice? Do the Hendrick drivers help Alex Bowman or Chase Elliott if they are side-by-side for the lead?

Denny Hamlin already said on his podcast that he would push his 23XI Racing driver Wallace past his own Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Gibbs.

Thinking Out Loud

It has been a year since NASCAR had a 13-car pileup as it started raining at Daytona before NASCAR could throw the caution. 

Since then, NASCAR has been much more proactive throwing the caution if its spotters or officials learn of rain being imminent at a high-speed track. In situations where NASCAR had raced in the past, NASCAR has thrown the caution.

That philosophy risks a race not getting in — Michigan got suspended just 26 laps from halfway. But it’s the best move when it comes to fairness and safety.

Weekly Power Rankings

They Said It

“I would be devastated if we didn’t make the playoffs. I hate that we haven’t had a win this year to lock ourselves in — yet.” —Bubba Wallace, who currently occupies the final playoff spot based on points

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass, and sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass.

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