Austin Dillon Sets Tone for NASCAR Playoffs After Richmond Win: ‘I Feel Great’
Fresh off his Saturday win, Austin Dillon has joined the ranks of the winningest drivers at Richmond Raceway, successfully defending last year’s win. A season ago, his aggressive move that took out Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano cost him a playoff berth despite victory. This time, Dillon left no room for debate, sealing the win cleanly and without controversy.
Riding that momentum, Dillon is now looking forward to the playoffs. However, he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, choosing instead to take one race at a time, with full focus on the Round of 16 trio, Darlington, Gateway, and Bristol.
His confidence stems from a proven track record at those venues. Last year, he placed 15th at Darlington, where crew chief Richard Boswell, he noted, already has a solid baseline. At Gateway, he came home P6 a year ago, and earlier this season at Bristol, he finished P10. Those results have him convinced the opening round plays right into their hands.
As Dillon put it, “That first round for us is a really good round. Like, I could circle those three tracks and finish in the top-10 of all three of those. So, I feel really great about the first round of the playoffs. I know my team does…
“So, we just got to get through them, knock them one at a time, and show that same poise and calm and execution that we showed at Richmond, and we can we can progress to the next round.”
“And I’m not even going to look to the next round. I’m just going to look at those three and go to work on them in the simulator and try and do the same type of things that we did to prepare for Richmond,” he continued.
Dillon currently sits 25th in points with five top-10s and one top-five. Though Daytona hasn’t yielded much since his victory in the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400, he will aim to notch another top-five this weekend before rolling into the playoffs.
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