Gutsy Fuel Strategy Call in Coca-Cola 600 Helps Austin Dillon Earn Career-First Victory in No. 3 Dow Chevrolet in front of Hometown Crowd
“I feel like we did our jobs. We took a car that was capable of running fifth to eighth, and we took it to Victory Lane. The pit crew did an amazing job. I had a really good restart and an okay restart that hurt us a little but. However, that did put us in a position where I could be smart and save fuel. Track position is tough at a place like Charlotte. Man, that’s what the 600 is about. You got to keep yourself in it to win it, and we did that. I never changed direction. Once I started saving, I was really smooth letting out of the gas, smooth back to the gas, no brake. I just tried to stay as smooth as I could. I knew the laps were counting down. I knew my team wanted me to go pass race leader Jimmie Johnson, but I knew he was right there. If I had to make it in a lap, I felt like I could do it. It worked out. That actually took some pressure off me when he ran out of fuel, truthfully. As soon as that happened, I went back to my conserving mode. I said to myself ‘you’re fine’. Then brought it home. It feels awesome to deliver a victory to fans of the No. 3 car, to fans of Richard Childress Racing, and to everyone who has believed in me, especially my partners who have been with me since the very beginning. It’s pretty cool to see the No. 3, like my grandfather said, on top of the pylon tonight. Now, we can take two cars to the Playoffs and hopefully make some noise.”
– Austin Dillon
Strategy Call by Crew Chief Matt Borland Results in 13th-Place Finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway
“It was an up and down night for this No. 27 Knauf /Menards Chevy team. The handling was decent all night and pretty close to where it needed to be. I wasn’t really sure what changes we needed to go faster. Matt Borland made a strategy call at the end to stretch our fuel limits. It worked out. I was able to save enough to get us across the start finish line. I’ve got to congratulate my teammate Austin Dillon on his win tonight. It’s good to see RCR in Victory Lane again.”
– Paul Menard
Fuel Mileage Gamble Pays Off for Ryan Newman with Top-10 Finish for the Grainger Team
“First I want to congratulate Austin, Justin and the entire 3 team. It’s great to see that car back in Victory Lane especially for Richard and what it means for the organization. We now have two of our three cars in the Playoffs. It’s awesome. As for our race, our Grainger Chevrolet really struggled when we went back to green after the rain delay. The call to stay out and conserve really turned our day around and we’ll take it.”
– Ryan Newman
