Wins have been difficult to come by for Austin Dillon throughout his NASCAR Cup Series career. Currently in his 13th full-time season, the driver of the No. 3 has recorded six career victories, including the 2017 Coca-Cola 600 and the 2018 Daytona 500.
However, the 36-year-old has found a sweet spot at Richmond Raceway. Dillon has been the victor of the last two Cup Series races at the 0.75-mile short track in Henrico County, Virginia.
Ahead of this Saturday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond, is Dillon the favorite to secure a 3-peat? His crew chief, Richard Boswell, weighed in on their chances via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Austin Dillon’s crew chief on going for Richmond win: ‘Can’t beat ourselves’
Boswell, who is in his second season as Dillon’s crew chief, spoke to what he believes will be key in securing a third straight Richmond Cup win this Saturday.
While Dillon has won the previous two races at the track, Boswell knows the other drivers and teams will take action in catching the Richard Childress Racing driver this weekend.
“I think just execution. From practice to qualifying to race. Aside from that, we have to make our stuff a little bit better. We know that everybody else is going to go through and study what Austin does to be fast there and they’re going to work on their cars to put a little bit more downforce in them or make them drive just a little bit better and we have to do all the same things,” Boswell said.
Boswell and the No. 3 team know what they are capable of at Richmond, however, and the crew chief believes they do not need an entire overhaul of what they do at the track.
Just small changes and a focus on themselves.
“I think the biggest thing is we can’t beat ourselves. We can’t think that we have to change everything to be better. We just have to make minor tweaks to what we have in our baseline and make it a little bit better. A couple hundredths of lap time goes a long way, [but] a couple hundredths of a lap time doesn’t take reinventing the wheel,” Boswell said.
A look at Austin Dillon’s previous Richmond wins
In August 2024, Dillon was in command at Richmond Raceway when a late caution flew. On the ensuing restart with two laps to go, Joey Logano pushed past Dillon’s No. 3 for the lead.
When it looked as though the win was out of Dillon’s hands, it was not. Entering turn three on the last lap, Dillon dive-bombed into the corner and tagged Logano’s No. 22 in the back bumper, sending the latter spinning.
Denny Hamlin maneuvered underneath Dillon for the lead coming to the checkered flag, only to be clipped by the No. 3 car as he was coming to the finish line.
Dillon won the race, and while the victory stood, the circumstances of intentionally wrecking Logano and Hamlin revoked his playoff eligibility for the win.
In 2025, Dillon drove to victory lane at Richmond Raceway, this time without controversy. The North Carolina native paced the field for 107 of 400 laps en route to the win and secured a spot in the playoffs.
Dillon, who sits 27th in the points standings, is out of contention to make The Chase. Despite that, a win at Richmond would be a feel-good moment in what has been a trying season for the grandson of Richard Childress.
In addition, the win would surely be emotional as it would be the first Cup Series win for RCR since the tragic passing of Kyle Busch, who drove for the organization from 2023 until his death last May.
Austin Dillon: The Favorite to Win Richmond? Crew Chief Sounds Off