BUY TICKETS: See the races at Richmond
Operations Director Sammy Johns will replace Slugger Labbe as the crew chief on the No. 3 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, Richard Childress Racing announced Friday.
Labbe will remain at the Lexington, North Carolina, race shop to work on cars for next weekend’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Dillon will also have to start from the rear in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio) for failing pre-race inspection five times at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend. He will also have a hold of 30 minutes for opening practice and the No. 3 team will lose its pit stall selection at Richmond.
Dillon has an average finish of 22.3 in six career starts at Richmond, while the fourth-year veteran notched a pair of top-10 finishes at Talladega in 2016. He placed third in last year’s May race at NASCAR’s biggest track.
The team has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, with an average finish of 19.5 and one top-10 finish through eight races.