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BRISTOL, Tenn. — Austin Dillon didn’t think his team had a winning car this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
His performance on the track begged to differ, as Dillon powered his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the front, battling eventual race winner Kevin Harvick for the lead before earning a solid fourth-place result in Sunday’s rain-delayed event at the short track. Coupled with his victory in the XFINITY Series race at Bristol Friday night, Dillon’s weekend in the Appalachian Mountains turned into his best combined series effort he’s seen all season.
But he and his team had to fight for it.
“We had a car that we had to really work on all day,” a red-faced and worn-out-looking Dillon said on pit road after the race. “I tell you what, my butt’s kicked right now. We just had to really fight hard early in the race, we about went a lap down and they made good adjustments to put us back in the race.
“Proud of (crew chief) Slugger (Labbe), proud of my pit crew – they really stepped up and that means a lot getting ready to what we’re going into.”
After restarting third at Lap 450, the 26-year-old driver moved into the second position behind Harvick three quick laps later, putting Dillon in position to challenge the No. 4 driver for the lead. The No. 3 wheelman fought to overtake Harvick for eight laps, looking for momentum in the inside lane.
He made it look effortless, but Dillon assures it was anything but.
“I was really proud of that little short run we had on the bottom,” Dillon said. “Harvick was pretty loose and I got to his door. Just didn’t have enough to really do much on the top. (I was) holding on for my dear life there at the end.”
Sitting 13th in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings, Dillon finds himself in a relatively comfortable points position with three races remaining until the playoffs begin.
But Dillon & Co. aren’t just looking for “good points days”– they’re looking for a win. That long-waited victory could very well come next weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
“I’m racing like I’m in the playoffs right now, for sure,” Dillon said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Really looking forward to Michigan, probably my best track, so hopefully we can go win one and not have to worry about it for two weeks.”
Crew chief Slugger Labbe also has his sights set on the Irish Hills, having circled it following the team’s 13th-place run at Pocono in August.
“Last time at Michigan we ran extremely well with the low downforce package,” Labbe told NASCAR.com on pit road. “We’re taking the same car back that we had at Pocono that ran extremely well at Pocono battling for the lead against Kyle Larson … so we’re just hoping for big things.
“After Pocono, he was kind of mad that we didn’t finish at good as we wanted so I told everyone on this team to make sure we circle Michigan and that’s the one we’re going to win. So, we’re going to shoot really hard for it, prepare, do the best we can and give it our best shot at Michigan.”