NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
MAY 23, 2025
Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Camaro ZL1 and the No. 3 Boot Barn Camaro SS for Richard Childress Racing, met with the media in advance of running double duty in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
Austin, this weekend is going to be your first time back in the Xfinity car since 2023. You have 600 miles coming up on Sunday. Mentally, where’s your head at?
“I’m excited to get a Xfinity car… a RCR Xfinity car, especially. You know, they’ve been very fast this season and they’ve always been known for ECR engines, so I’m pumped to get in the No. 3 Boot Barn Chevy and have some fun at a place that I’ve had some success at in the Xfinity series. So hopefully I can bring something to Jesse (Love) and Austin (Hill) this weekend on Saturday. It also gives me some momentum for Sunday.”
This is my first question in the media center, so we’re going to deliver the sport to a lot of new people. All the tickets are sold out — 50 states, 14 countries, all these people are coming and new folks on Prime. The thing we’ve been talking about is the 600, like how difficult it is. So my question is two parts — physical preparation, as the car transitions and then how do you deal with the intensity of this race and keeping your head in the game? So the whole prep for 600 miles, I guess…
“Yeah, for sure. So this weekend, obviously I’ve got the Coca-Cola 600 and the laps on Saturday. So definitely started a little bit earlier preparing during the week on, you know, my food, my hydration, doing my job to know that I’ll be prepared for both days. Just kind of building up to that Sunday because you know you have not only 600 miles, but that morning’s pretty busy throughout the day with meeting with sponsors and our partners that come to this race. It’s very important to a lot of our partners. And then it’s going to be warm. Obviously, this is one of the most mentally grueling races we have. And the track’s not smooth.. it’s rough, so I think you prep your seat well for this race too. I changed that two years ago when we went to this car because we’re already on the stops. I remember the first time in the Next Gen car here, it was awful under caution, even just head rattling around in there. So I tried to make our foam a little different around our head rest, which helps.
But yeah, I think you just start that preparation a little bit earlier than you would on any other given weekend.”
Austin, this week, obviously, the Earnhardt documentary premiered on Prime Video. As the only other driver of the No. 3 car since Dale’s passing, what connections have you had to the Earnhardt family, to obviously, you know, with your grandfather as well? And as this documentary has come back out, what has your reaction to it been?
“Yeah, I didn’t get to go to the premiere, so I haven’t really seen the new documentary, but I’m excited to see it. I know my grandfather’s part of it. And, you know, I try to tune in to every one of the documentaries that have been made on Dale because you hear new, fun stories about his life and the way he was larger than life.
And so for me, just being able to continue driving the No. 3 has been so special; seeing Earnhardt fans out at the track and being able to keep the number on the track is very important. I think trying to deliver another victory lane is — every time I get in a race car, that’s what I’m focused on because Dale was synonymous with winning. You know, he was a winner every weekend on or off the track.
It’s pretty cool and looking forward to getting to see that. I know that seeing (Dale Earnhardt) Jr. and Kelley last night at the premiere, it looked really, really fun. I’m excited to watch it. The Earnhardt legacy is so special, and just being a part of it in the No. 3 and getting to carry it on at NASCAR is fun.”
Can you just address the Xfinity program and the success that they’ve had? Over the years, you’ve raced for them and you’ve raced for the truck when you guys had a truck program, but they’ve really knocked it out of the park in the last two years.
“Yeah, you know, I feel like RCR has done a very good job of dominating in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. I think it comes back to the employees that we’ve had for a very long time — the faces that I had when I was in the Xfinity Series, and the faces I had when I was in the Truck Series are still there. Some have even left and then come back. Those guys are just known for speed, so I think that core group is what’s important and why those cars are extremely fast.
And I know looking back, if I knew what I knew now, I would love to be in my trucks again. I’d love to be in my Xfinity cars again. I feel like I could go out there and win 10 race seasons with the experience I have in the Cup level. But that’s the reason why you keep moving and gaining experience in the Cup Series is just a whole other level.
So I’m excited to get back in the Xfinity car. It has been two years, so I just want to make sure I get to the gears clean the first time because it’s not just back and forth like we have every Sunday… got that H-pattern again. So we’ll have fun with that and try to go win a race in our No. 3 Boot Barn Chevy.”
What do you remember about your Coca Cola 600 win?
“I remember the final restart and Justin Alexander just saying — Hey, look, we need to do a good job saving here… go as much as you can. But in the back of your mind, be thinking about saving because it could go green and that could be our shot. Jimmie Johnson passed me at the beginning of the run, and I paced myself off of Jimmie. He went a little harder at the first quarter of the run, which ended up being the race to the end… myself and Jimmie. And I remember watching so many laps down in turn one of Jimmie Johnson dominating the competition here, and he had a distinct line of how he wrapped exit of turn two. As we are both trying to save fuel and race to the end, it was just like — Oh my gosh, is this really happening? And then off of turn two, a corner that I always loved watching him run, he ran out of gas and we blew by. And then it was just two more laps or three more laps that I needed to keep it in gear, and we were able to come home and get a victory and celebrate with all our friends and family here in Charlotte, which was awesome.”
When you’re walking around today at Charlotte Motor Speedway, what does this event mean for the city of Charlotte and just this area?
“Well, I actually went and got my haircut this morning at the barbershop and he said one of his customers asked — Hey, what’s something very good I can do for my daughter on Memorial Day weekend to let her, you know, experience, you know, America. And he was like — well, you know, the Coca-Cola 600… there’s going to be tanks, helicopters, a flyover, the national anthem, race cars. There’s nothing more patriotic in America than the Coke 600 weekend
Charlotte Motor Speedway is Memorial Day weekend to me. That’s all I know from growing up, but I mean, getting to see the military branches all represented out here on one weekend. And then we rip around the track. The Indianapolis 500 will be on the big screen on the backstretch. It’s just a great day.”
In your career, what does it mean to win a race like this, and how much does this one mean in particular?
“I mean, it means a little more than the rest. All of them mean a lot. They take you to the playoffs. Every win matters, but this one is home. We want to win at home. You know, if our PBR teams are playing, we want to win our home game. This is a home match, so we want to win this.”
Austin, what have you guys done right lately to get some of the performances, and what more you still need to do to further elevate that?
“I think during the off-season, we did a good job of bringing a better product to the track. I think from an urgency standpoint, there’s more urgency within both teams. I think my team, especially, has done a good job with the urgency of how we go about things. And then communication from myself to (Richard) Boswell has been decent, but we’re still learning. So there’s a little bit of that going on. I think from what you asked, what we’re not doing as good as we could, I’d say we are figuring each other out as we go, but it’s probably one of the fastest ‘figuring it out’ I’ve been a part of. So it’s a good pace compared to when I’ve had a different crew chief or whatnot.
And it’s just a balance. Like I know the race cars — like I get frustrated a little bit because I know the race car is capable now with the speed that we’re bringing… I at least feel that way. But the car will be handling just a couple numbers off of what it needs to be. I can see the group of cars that I need to be in, and I can’t get there because I’m either too loose… mostly been too loose, truthfully. We’ve missed on the loose side probably for the last two or three weeks.
The week of Kansas, we had three straight top-10s, and we got to Kansas and I’m running like 15th and I’m frustrated because we’re still too loose. And I came to the radio, I was like — guys, I’ve been patient with the car balance. And in their mind, like we finished top-10 last three weeks, what do you mean you’ve been patient? Like it’s been good, but it’s just right here. Hopefully this weekend, we’ve kind of focused a little different direction on coming here, closer to where we were at the beginning of the year at Las Vegas. I thought we hit our balance really well there, but unfortunately, got in a wreck. We’re passing more cars than we have in the last three years this year… I would say the No. 3 car is. I mean, if you look at passing metrics, I’ve had the capability to pass a lot. Even at North Wilkesboro, in the All-Star Race, I drove up to seventh in that race. The cautions and stuff came out and you get put in the wrong lines, but you know, as far as being able to pass, I’ve had a good season of that.”
You referenced the urgency this year compared to last year. Can you further define or explain what you mean by urgency? Because I think it’s easy to say — well, look, every race is important. Everybody should be focused. So when you’re talking about the urgency, what do you mean?
“Yeah, what I mean by urgency is more like — if there is something that we can do better, it is getting done faster. It’s not like — oh, we’ll figure it out the next week. It’s — hey, how can we accomplish this now? Or this is very important to us, let’s get this done right this time around. It’s not like — well, let’s go look at it and it’ll work, you know, two weeks from now, or when we can get to it, we’ll get to it. Now it’s more of urgency to get things done that we think have juice in them. if it’s worth the squeeze, we’re going to squeeze all out and try and get it as fast as possible.
And that’s from the car side, to the driver’s side, to the crew chief’s side… all of it.”
Looking ahead to Mexico City, because of the high elevation, is there anything extra that an athlete like you have to do to do to prepare for that? And again, I know you’re about ready, but right 900 miles here, but just the high elevation, what it does to the body and how you better prepare, if there’s anything you can do for that for Mexico.
“Yeah, it’s pretty interesting. You know, I thought for Mexico, the biggest thing would be the heat factor of that race. I hadn’t really thought about the elevation. I mean, I know what it does to the engines. They don’t run as good, from a horsepower perspective. But no, I haven’t really thought about that, like oxygen-wise. I haven’t really taken that into consideration. But I mean, I think I feel like I do a good job of pushing myself during the week and in the heat playing different types of sports to stay ready for those things. So I think I’ll be fine, but I probably need to prepare for Mexico City like I was coming here… you know, take the four days before instead of like two to three days out, maybe two days out, really. For the 600, I mean, I started four days, five days before. So Mexico city probably needs to be looked at like that, especially the first time without any knowledge of it.
And also, Kyle Busch has been there, so that’s a good person I can lean on when he went for the Xfinity race. I haven’t really heard him mention anything of how that went when he was there. I’d say the cars were hotter then, from a cool shirt perspective and air condition.”
It’s been eight years since that first win in the Coke 600, but you mentioned three top-10s the last four weeks. Do you feel like this team is on the upswing that it needs to be, or at least is starting that process and how juiced, if so, does that make you to feel like maybe this can be the year to get another 600?
“Yeah, I feel like as a driver, I always give myself shots at these big races to be in the hunt. Even if we’re a, you know, 15th-place car, I do a pretty good job of trying to get to the end of these things. Getting to the end is almost the top-10 here, you know, automatically. So, I mean, when I say that, you got to do a good job throughout the race to be on the lead lap and do your job. But if you give me a car that’s a top-10 car from the start of the weekend, I feel like our odds are much greater. So that’s what we’ve got to be focused on. When we unload for practice and if we qualify good, it’s going to put us in a really good spot. A lot of things happen over 600 miles. I was very close to being a two-time champion in this race. I wrecked off a turn four. And in that race, we weren’t the fastest car. We got tires at the right time. I made a heck of a restart through one and two and tried to get a little too much through three and four. It all broke loose off of four over there… the No. 11, myself and the No. 5.
So looking back, that’s one of the ones I kick myself over – like when you think about races over time, that one is the one because I think if I would have given up like a car length and wrapped turn four, I would have had four tires to make it work through one and two for one more lap. So that’s one that it was so close, but hopefully we get that opportunity again and we capitalize on it.
And yeah, the momentum from this whole year, I feel good about coming here. I think we can have a good weekend.”
I was talking to Keith Rodden on Wednesday and he said that with the differences in the cars, when you guys drop back to Xfinity series, there’s nothing really to gain other than just showing your love of the game. And I was just curious, you know, a couple of years away from the Xfinity Series, why was Charlotte and right now the right time for you to come back and play around a little bit?
“Well we have an awesome partner in Boot Barn that likes this market also, and it happens to be probably one of my best tracks. You know, I swept the Xfinity Races, I don’t know what year that was. And it’s your home field, man. Like I love doing it in front of my family and friends.
I would say it’s not — like when Keith (Rodden)says that, I also think there’s an advantage to getting laps before we start practice. So like, even though the car does drive completely different, setups aren’t going to matter, air pressure, none of that, but the first moment you hit the track and I can see it visually, there’s a gain to when I get in the Cup car, as long as I don’t take some of my habits from the Xfinity car to the Cup car, which means the driving style is totally different. But visually, I should have a little more confidence. I’ve run thousands of laps here, but just from an edge of everybody else is going to be hitting turn one with less time on it that day, there’s an advantage, I think, to seeing the track for the first time. I think they did some stuff with the PJ-1, so any of that type of thing I can take will be a little bit advantage for the first-half of practice, and then after that, I’d say for qualifying, everybody’s on the same page by then.”
You mentioned Kyle Busch.. what has he been like as a teammate? I mean, just kind of overall the last couple years and maybe specifically this year as you guys are kind of restructuring things and moving forward, and what he’s brought to the organization.
“Yeah, I feel like he gives you what you expect, which is that he’s a hard worker. He’s a fiery. He wants the best for the cars. He wants to get to victory lane constantly and will push everyone to figure out how to make that happen, even himself on the track. But as far as being in the meetings with him after practice and, you know, on Monday’s and the debriefs, he’s very helpful. You know, he asks good questions at the right time about what your car is doing and he provides information that you can make your car better off of.
So from that standpoint, you couldn’t ask for a more helpful teammate when it comes to his knowledge of the game and what he is providing from an informational standpoint.”
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