Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch continue to wrestle with the Chevrolet that Richard Childress Racing has rolled out this season. Hopes for a turnaround briefly flickered after team owner Richard Childress admitted over the radio at Dover that the cars weren’t up to standard and pledged to step up. Yet the results tell a harsher story.
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Dillon, who punched his playoff ticket with a win at Richmond, sits with an average finish of 20.071 and an average start of 18.821. Busch has fared little better.
For the second straight year, the two-time Cup champion failed to crack the playoff field, carrying an average finish of 17.929 through the season’s stretch run. And Gateway proved no exception.
Busch rolled off and came home 22nd, while Dillon slipped from 15th at the start to 18th by the finish. The numbers speak for themselves: RCR’s equipment has left both drivers fighting uphill battles.
The frustration bubbled over in Dillon’s cockpit. Sitting below the cutline in the Round of 16, he needed points to keep his playoff hopes alive, but the No. 3 Chevrolet car simply wouldn’t cooperate.
As reported by Toby Christie, Dillon snapped over the radio: “Quit telling me how to drive. I’m driving a piece of s**t. I’m trying to hang onto it.”
Austin Dillon: “Quit telling me how to drive, I’m driving a piece of shit, I’m trying to hang onto it.” #NASCAR
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) September 7, 2025
His post-race comments didn’t soften the blow. “We didn’t come here with a good race car for some reason. All of our cars were pretty off today; we just missed it.”
However, crediting his No. 3 RCR team for saving his day, Dillon said, “But this No. 3 Dow DayGlo Chevrolet team did a great job executing with what we had. We got stage points and finished the best we possibly could right there.
“We outran our day by a lot, so hard work and execution gives us a shot at Bristol (Motor Speedway). Just feel like we’ve missed some opportunities and could be in a better position, but we did all we could today.”
Dillon heads to Bristol 11 points shy of safety from entering the Round of 12, meaning the next race is make-or-break for him. In 20 starts on the high banks, he owns one top-five finish and a 17.8 average. To advance, he’ll need to summon the same spark that carried him to victory at Richmond.
