This Chase Elliott stat shows how pathetic Austin Dillon’s 2023 season has been
Austin Dillon is arguably having the worst start to a season in his Cup career.
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Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott
Richard Childress Racing No:3 Chevy Camaro Zl1 driver Austin Dillon is going through one of the toughest periods of his Cup career. The former Truck and Xfinity series champion is yet to establish himself as a championship contender in the premier division with RCR, one of the most accomplished teams in the history of the sport. He showed signs of progress in the 2022 season but couldn’t cash in on the momentum.
After 11 races in the Cup series, he currently positioned P31 in the championship table. He has so far scored 133 points, along with a stage win. The most disappointing factor in his position is that he is 15 points behind Hendrick Motorsport driver Chase Elliott. The No:9 missed six races this year due to a tibia injury and has started just five compared to Dillion’s 11 starts. The L2 level penalty imposed on him by NASCAR is one of the reasons for his ranking. He lost 60 driver points, along with playoff points and a fine.
He is the only full-time driver behind Elliott in the standing. The No:3 driver brother Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, and rookie Noah Gregson join him. But compared to Dillon, all the other driver’s toilets cars are never in contention for wins in race weeks. While the 2018 Daytona 500 winner is driving a car that can fight for race wins every week. Even if his penalty deduction is factored in, the position he is at after 11 races is disappointing.
Richard Childress’s grandson’s best performance of the year came in the Bristol dirt race, where he finished P3. It was no surprise, as he is one of the most skillful dirt racers in the Cup series. His only top 10 of the season was at Fontana in the second race. In all of his races since Fontana, he has been inconsistent or unlucky. His last two finishes in the series were outside the top 25 as well.
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Austin Dillon’s teammate Kyle Busch is thriving at RCR
While Dillon was solid in the 2022 season, he was outclassed by his teammate Tyler Reddick, who finished the year with three race wins. Reddick left the team to join 23XI Racing at the end of the season, while two times Cup champion Kyle Busch took over the No:8 team. Dillon played a crucial role in Busch’s signing and has expressed his desire to learn from him many times.
Kyle Busch has been solid since his RCR debut. He has scored two wins, the first one in Fontana and the second one in Talladega. He is in position P8 in the championship table with 303 points and has already established himself as a title contender. He has finished outside the Top 25 just once this season. All of his fish, barring that are in the Top 20s. He hasn’t just been a solid driver for the team and a good teammate to Dillon.
It is evident that Austin Dillon is going through tough times, and a drop in form is common among any premier-level motors racing driver. Having the courage and willpower to face those fears will help them to reach the next level. He has the support from his team and the set mentor in Kyle Busch to guide him. The team should continue to find solid cars for him, and he should work on his confidence. He could get back to good form if he can perform well in one race.
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Justin P Joy
(4936 Articles Published)