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BROOKLYN, Mich. — Austin Dillon raced with the big dogs on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, challenging race winner Matt Kenseth and showing that the No. 3 team has made progress in the past few weeks.
In the eight races since the team switched to Slugger Labbe as its crew chief, Dillon has posted three top-10 finishes, including a career-best fourth place in the Pure Michigan 400, where he led the second-most laps (19) to Kenseth.
Dillon emerged from his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet SS on pit road on a day when temperatures inside the vehicles rose to above 150 degrees, and he asked for a towel to wipe off his face. And despite his reddish hue, the 25-year-old still pumped his fists and gave high-fives to crew.
“Well I had fun,” Dillon said. “We gained a lot of spots starting 43rd and got to fourth where we qualified. Just overcame a lot today. I’m proud of my guys. Slugger made a good call at the beginning. We kind of had made that plan to ride around and save fuel and it worked out for us.”
Despite qualifying fourth on Friday, Dillon had to start from the rear of the field on Sunday because of an engine change. In an effort to gain track position, the No. 3 team did not pit on the Lap 20 competition caution.
The gamble paid off as Dillon was able to stay up toward the front, and by the time a restart came around on Lap 126 of 200, he was in a position to battle Kenseth for the lead. Kenseth and Dillon had a classic back-and-forth on that lap, but eventually the Joe Gibbs Racing driver pulled away and finished off the win.
Kenseth was asked if he was surprised by the fact the No. 3 car was the one putting up a fight toward the end of the race.
“I was a little bit,” Kenseth said. “He had a really good restart, and we had a little touch there on (Turn) 4. I was a little frustrated, not with him, he didn’t do anything wrong, but I was a little frustrated because I was like, ‘Man, we got to get away because I got a really good car.’ … It was a challenge to get away from him and you needed to get those five or six car-lengths to get him in that bad air.”
Unfortunately for Dillon, a slow pit stop with 32 laps to go dropped him into fourth place. And despite the career-best finish, Dillon likely needs a win to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. After Michigan, Dillon was 83 points behind Clint Bowyer, who currently holds the 16th and final spot in the Chase.
“We’re showing some speed that’s solid for us the last couple weeks to be able to compete if we were in the Chase,” Dillon said. “That’s nice to know. For me, I just wish we could have started this just a little bit earlier.”
Dillon still has three more chances to capture that elusive win, which would be his first in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. And the next stop on the schedule, Bristol Motor Speedway, is somewhere Dillon had some success with a top-10 finish earlier this season.
”Really looking forward to Bristol,” Dillon said. “We ran third there with four to go and ran out of fuel. So if we can go to Bristol and compete, I think we can win there. I’m definitely looking forward to that race.”
And it wouldn’t hurt if Dillon got another key call from a crew chief that has helped him during the turnaround.
”He’s been awesome, man,” Dillon said about Labbe. “I feel like I can compete in this series, and he’s given me my confidence back. And it has been nice to work with him.”