Reset, restart, and refocus: this is the main mantra for Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon as he suits up for the upcoming season. Dillon entered the 2023 season with optimism, but it was nothing less than a disaster with just one top-5 finish and seven top-10 finishes, resulting in an average finishing position of 21.8.
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However, he did admit where he stands and where he needs to be. In a recent interview with Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Dillon admitted, “Last year was a struggle after Martinsville pretty much. Once we got the penalty, we had a lot of wrecks, and different things happened. More DNFs than I think I’ve ever had in my career…”
Austin Dillon finished 29th in the Cup standings last year. Why will 2024 be different? Dillon was obviously looking forward to an offseason reset. pic.twitter.com/E2aGY6h9Bt
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) January 27, 2024
The L1 penalty that came right after Martinsville indeed brought his momentum down. For the #3 driver, perhaps the only good thing about the previous season was his third-place finish at the Bristol dirt race. But that doesn’t mean the race car driver is going to stay down. He spilled the biggest reason why in the 2024 NASCAR Cup season, things will be different.
“The biggest thing is it’s a new year. It’s 2024, not 2023,” said the 33-year-old. “’23 was rough. New number of the year and just looking forward to getting momentum started early and carrying it throughout the year. That’s the biggest thing.”
Does Austin Dillon regret the way he raced in 2023?
Pockrass was curious if the racer felt like the latter could have done things differently last year. But Austin Dillon stated that he did everything he could have done. Reflecting on his crashes with 23XI’s Tyler Reddick at Pocono and another with Austin Cindric at St. Louis, he said, “If you don’t take the spots when you get ’em, it’s tough out there.”
It is safe to say that Dillon is right. When winning is the need of the hour for everyone in a field of almost 40 cars, everybody tries to gain track positions constantly. “If you’re a 15th-place car and you can get yourself inside the top 10, the racing generally gets better. The biggest thing for us is to bump up a couple more spots,” he added.
It wasn’t just Austin Dillon whose season turned out to be mediocre. Even his new teammate Kyle Busch suffered from a series of setbacks, despite bagging three wins. Sure, he made it to the playoffs, but in the end, Rowdy had to settle for an overall P14 finish.
