Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at World Wide Technology Raceway.<\/p>\n
Media Availability Quotes:<\/p>\n
You\u2019re averaging the third-most points on this type of track, the shorter flat tracks, this year. Why do you feel like you excel at these types of venues?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a good question. I\u2019m not sure. I feel like I\u2019m comfortable with whatever we\u2019re doing with the cars. Just confidence and giving good feedback. The guys are giving me good race cars and it\u2019s just probably a strong suit for us right now at RCR. I guess that\u2019s the best way to answer it. I do feel really comfortable and feel like my feedback is good.\u201d<\/p>\n
You finished sixth here last year and Kyle (Busch) won here the year before, so how much of an opportunity is this weekend to get above the cutline?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge. You know, last week was very disappointing because I felt like we had a great week to capitalize. We really executed in practice and qualifying. Qualifying ninth, that was a big start for us. We didn\u2019t do a great job in the race of taking advantage of that. I feel like we should be above the cutline because of all the stuff that went down last week. \u2018Execution\u2019 was the main word that I used at media day. We executed partly\u2026 half of it. Getting through that race, we\u2019re only eight away from the cutline, so it\u2019s not insurmountable. I feel really good about these next two races. So yes, Gateway is huge for us. I think that qualifying today, again, if we can execute like we did at Darlington \u2014 this is a place that is tougher to pass than Darlington. Maintaining track position is a bit easier because of that, but you also have to do a really good job in strategy and different things. I think the past history of Kyle (Busch) running really well here and winning. Last year, we had a very fast car and we were able to take advantage of that and finish sixth, like you said, and score stage points. If we score some stage points and finish in the top-10, I feel like we\u2019ll go into Bristol just above the cutline, and then we\u2019ve got to do the same thing there.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve been fast at this point of the season, the end of the summer, this year and last year. What is it about RCR that you kind of build up to the end of the summer, start of the playoffs, or is it just kind of the team getting fast at the right time?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny. I think we come out swinging, we kind of take a dip and then we come back. I think RC has to yell at us at the right time, I guess, and then we get going again. I don\u2019t know why that is.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d really love to figure that out, solve for it, but at least we\u2019re finding speed at the right time, like you talked about, because I think that\u2019s key in this sport now and in every sport. Momentum is big I\u2019m proud of our organization for the speed that we have brought the last couple weeks. You saw Kyle (Busch) and AJ (Allmendinger) run well last week. It shows us that we were capable of doing that. We kind of got burnt last week on that last caution. I mean, we were on pit road when the yellow fell and we were the wave around. We had just started coming forward pretty good. We were up to 18th. I think we would have finished the race 14th, if that cycle would have gone through.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been some talk about changing the rule next year for the fastest lap for the point, like whether you have to be on the lead lap or not. You\u2019re probably somebody who loves kind of love the challenge of getting the car back on track, kind of old school racer mentality. I\u2019m curious how you view that?<\/p>\n
So did Josh (Berry) end up getting the fast lap last week and it counted toward the playoffs?<\/p>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s impressive. So yeah, I guess you don\u2019t want to be in that situation either way, but it is a consolation prize, somewhat. So yeah, they probably got to look at it, as far as is it the true fast lap of the race? You know, that\u2019s probably the toughest part because \u2014 yeah, you pump up the tires, you go rip one lap off, you\u2019re going to be quick time. It\u2019s just part of it. You\u2019re running qualifying air and low on fuel. I mean, you guys see what we do from practice to qualifying every week and how much faster we go. Yeah, it probably needs to be adjusted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Austin Cindric was in here a little bit earlier. He doesn\u2019t really think these flat tracks are in the grouping that a lot of us perceive him to be\u2026 like Gateway, New Hampshire, Phoenix are more different. What\u2019s your perspective on that? When we watch this tomorrow, how much can we be like, all right, this guy was good here, so Phoenix, New Hampshire, they\u2019ll probably be good there\u2026 how much does that really translate?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is definitely connections to certain aspects. I think I look at it more of like the asphalt degradation stuff, so tracks that really burn up tires and then tracks that have a high grip level. I think this (World Wide Technology Raceway) has a high grip level. I think Phoenix has a high grip level. So I look at Penske, they consistently run well in places that I feel like tires are less attractive in the situation. That\u2019s where I feel like they run well. Like, you go to a higher degradation place, they seem to struggle a little bit in those places. But I wouldn\u2019t look at it like \u2014 if you run good here, I do not think that it really translates to New Hampshire at all, just because the asphalt is so old and rough and this place is pretty smooth. So that\u2019s another part of it to look at, like look at how smooth the track is and how rough a track is. Those things play more into what a company I feel like brings consistently to a track, like who really has a good shock package because the tracks are rough. At a smoother track, well, then they\u2019re probably a little more rigid than most places and they really do a good job on their aero platform. Those are the type of things that I would look at instead of clumping certain tracks together.\u201d<\/p>\n
What were your thoughts on Gateway getting added to the playoffs? With turns one and two being so different than three and four, what are some of the challenges this place presents? \u201cIt\u2019s a very different type of track. It\u2019s a cool track. I think you\u2019re shifting a lot more than most places here. Strategy is very important. Two tires, no tires, fuel only, all come into play here. It is cooler than what we normally race here, so I think strategy is even that much more important.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a great facility. They give great gifts to the drivers. I\u2019ve got an awesome chrome bat with my name on it, some cookies and all kinds of stuff, so they\u2019re like P1 on my charts for gifts, so far (laughs). So yeah, it\u2019s a cool place.\u201d<\/p>\n
I know it\u2019s a way out, but the forecast for Bristol is pretty mild. It could be somewhat chilly at night, so how nervous are you that the tire situation could be one of those crazy degradation races if it\u2019s just cool enough to trigger that?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely could happen. I feel like they have a good grasp on what makes that happen or not, and I think it has to do with the amount of PJ1 that they use or the type they use. The resin didn\u2019t work. I feel like if they use nothing, like if they make a really light pass across the track with that and they don\u2019t put that PJ1 down within that three-foot, four-foot range on the bottom, then there\u2019s a good shot that that tire degradation stuff happens, like if they just put less down.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s what I think. Every time they try not to put that stuff down on the bottom, then it\u2019s going to really marble up and do all that crazy tire stuff. So yeah, that would be interesting. That would throw a little ding in the plans and change the game a little bit, if that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
With your bigger involvement with the organization, does that and any of that go back to your experiences with the bull riding team and getting more involved? And if so, how so? Is it easy to maybe see how busy you are that that\u2019s more of a ceremonial position with the bull riding team?<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, I wish it was ceremonial sometimes (laughs). But I\u2019m constantly working pretty good with those guys\u2026 team psychologist sometimes. We\u2019re struggling right now for the first time<\/p>\n
But I\u2019ve learned a lot, man. I\u2019ve learned a ton. It\u2019s interesting from that side of it. I probably feel for my grandfather at certain times a lot more because a lot of things are out of your control in the end. You\u2019re trying to put together the greatest teams and the greatest group of guys you can, and sometimes it just doesn\u2019t work out. You got to stick with your people. You got to be there for them when it matters. It makes you grow up a lot in that position.<\/p>\n
So yeah, I think it\u2019s been helpful, and I think it allows me to sympathize with him on certain things. You learn a lot from that, so it\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is Austin Dillon, team psychologist, like?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just trying to be there for my guys, like a team. I\u2019ve been in a lot of sports settings. You guys always talk about Little League World Series. I had some great coaches and some great teammates. Sports, in general, have shaped the person I feel like I am. I\u2019ve had some great race teams that I\u2019ve won championships with, and I still have relationships with those guys. It goes a long way. The current team I have is a great team. I have a great crew chief and leader. It\u2019s a long season. It\u2019s a grind. You go up through ups and downs, and you lose a lot.<\/p>\n
You know, winning is a blessing and a curse. It teaches you \u2014 when you\u2019re winning all the time, it\u2019s hard to understand certain things. So when you lose, it really teaches you a lot more. And yeah, so you learn a lot more of what kind of person you are when you lose, and who the people you have around you. Winning is great and easy\u2026 everybody loves you. But when you start to struggle, those are the people that \u2014 the guy that comes out of that, that\u2019s the person I want to be around because no matter what adversity they hit, they\u2019re going to come out the other side of it. As you go through those things, you\u2019re not going to win constantly. The best in the world; there\u2019s only a few of those people, the goats, that do it. But at some point in their career, they probably lost, and they figured it out earlier than most.\u201d<\/p>\n
GM PR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[22083,13680,15757,425,2094,86556,2842,562,2095,99],"class_list":["post-138584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-austin-dillon","tag-chevrolet","tag-group","tag-nascar","tag-racing","tag-richard-childress","tag-richard-childress-racing","tag-series","tag-speed","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}