At a venue that nearly claimed his life in 2015, Austin Dillon responded back at Daytona International Speedway with both redemption and pure elation three years later as he steered the iconic No. 3 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet entry to the biggest victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career: the 60th running of the Daytona 500.
Fast forward to the year 2025, Dillon now prepares to commence his 12th consecutive campaign as a full-time Cup competitor with an opportunity to add a second Daytona 500 victory to his resume. As he pursues this feat, he will do so while also making his 13th career start in this year’s Great American Race.
A native of Welcome, North Carolina, Dillon made his first Daytona 500 career start in 2013, where he piloted the No. 33 Chevrolet entry for RCR. Three days prior to the main event, he claimed a transfer spot for the event after he finished in third place during the second of two Duel events. Starting in eighth place, Dillon settled in 31st place after he was involved in a nine-car wreck with 63 laps remaining.
The following season, Dillon, who was coming off his first Xfinity Series championship, captured an early spotlight by winning the pole position for the 56th Daytona 500 in his first Cup qualifying trials piloting the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet entry. By then, it marked the first time the No. 3 was being sported for a Cup Series event since the late seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt lost his life amid a final-lap accident from the 2001 Daytona 500. With Dillon winning his first Cup Series pole, the North Carolina native became the first rookie candidate to claim the top-starting spot for the season-opening event since Jimmie Johnson made the previous accomplishment in 2002 and he awarded the first Daytona 500 pole for the No. 3 since Earnhardt made the previous feat in 1996. After leading the first lap during the main event in 2014, Dillon rallied from being involved in a late multi-car accident and triggering two wrecks in the closing stages to finish in ninth place.
Over his next three Daytona 500 starts, Dillon achieved a second ninth-place finish in 2016 while he ended up 14th and 19th during the 2015 and 2017 events, respectively.
Then in 2018, Dillon, who restarted in fourth place during an overtime shootout, turned Aric Almirola on the final lap and rocketed his way to win the 60th Daytona 500 for his second Cup Series career victory. As a result, Dillon, who only led the final lap, became the 39th competitor to win the Great American Race as he notched the third 500 victory for RCR, the 24th for the Chevrolet nameplate and the first for the No. 3 since Dale Earnhardt achieved his first elusive 500 victory in 1998 amid 20 previous attempts. Fittingly, Dillon’s 2018 Daytona 500 victory occurred on February 18th, the exact date to which RCR achieved its previous 500 victory with Kevin Harvick in 2007.
Following the breakthrough victory in 2018, Dillon would finish in the top 16 during his next two Daytona 500 starts before he claimed a strong third-place result in 2021 after dodging a final-lap multi-car wreck. Since then, he is coming off a three-race stretch of finishing as high as 25th place in the 500.
Through 12 previous starts in the Daytona 500, Dillon has achieved one victory, one pole, two top-five results, four top-10 results, 18 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.4. A second victory in 2025 would make Dillon the 13th competitor overall to achieve multiple Daytona 500 victories and record the fourth Great American Race victory for RCR, which would move the organization into a tie with Joe Gibbs Racing in having the third-most 500 victories all-time. In addition, Dillon would record the 27th 500 victory for the Chevrolet nameplate and he would become the first repeat winner of the event since Denny Hamlin notched his third 500 victory in 2020.
This week, Dillon, who finished in 32nd place in the 2024 driver’s standings, will participate in a single-car qualifying session on Wednesday, February 12, and in one of two Duel events on Thursday, February 13, to determine his starting lineup for this year’s Daytona 500. The qualifying session on Wednesday will begin airing at 8:15 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Duels will begin airing at 7 p.m. ET on FS1.
The 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, February 16, with a starting broadcast time of 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
