One week after the death of Kyle Busch stunned the NASCAR world, Richard Childress Racing is still searching for a way forward.
For Austin Dillon, that process has included looking back.
Speaking Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway, Dillon revealed that many inside the organization have leaned on lessons from another devastating chapter in team history: the death of Dale Earnhardt following the 2001 Daytona 500.
The circumstances are different. The people are different. But the challenge facing RCR is painfully familiar.
How does one of NASCAR’s most iconic organizations move forward after losing one of its defining figures?
According to Dillon, the answer may come from the same place it did 25 years ago.
RCR Has Faced Heartbreak Before
>Dillon called this “one of the toughest weeks of RCR’s history.” Says “some of the nicest things that could be done were done” over
Dillon was still a child when Earnhardt died at Daytona. While he remembers the moment, he acknowledged that he did not fully understand everything surrounding it at the time.
Experiencing the loss of Busch as an adult has given him a different appreciation for what Richard Childress and the organization endured in 2001.
When asked what he has taken from the way Childress handled Earnhardt’s death, Dillon pointed to the people who remained committed to the organization and helped carry it through one of the darkest moments in NASCAR history.
Many of those same employees are still part of RCR today.
Now, they are helping the team navigate another tragedy.
“Hopefully this time around, we can do the same thing that they did the last time around.”
The comment offered a revealing glimpse into the conversations taking place inside the race shop this week.
Rather than focusing solely on uncertainty, Dillon suggested the organization has looked to its own history as proof that it can survive unimaginable loss and continue moving forward.
The Goal Is to Make Kyle Busch Proud
Dillon described the past week as “one of the toughest weeks of RCR’s history” and praised NASCAR, fellow competitors and members of the garage for the support shown to the organization.
He also revealed that the team has rallied around a simple message.
“The message this past week has been ‘ride for the brand.'”
That theme was reinforced during a company-wide meeting in which team president Mike Verlander addressed employees and Motor Racing Outreach chaplain Nick Terry spoke to the organization.
For Dillon, the week also included a deeply personal moment.
After returning home, he wrote a letter to Busch.
The process, he said, helped him begin dealing with a loss that still feels difficult to comprehend.
“It was from the heart, and it’s how I felt about Kyle,” Dillon said. “And it’s gonna hurt for a long time, but I know the character he was, he’d want us to go kick butt.”
Dillon also acknowledged the toll the past week has taken on Richard Childress, calling the situation “very hard” on his grandfather while describing him as a resilient person.
According to Dillon, Childress and Austin’s father, Mike Dillon, were at the hospital with Busch, while he remained at the race shop helping keep team members informed as information became available.
The grief remains fresh. The questions about the future will eventually be answered.
But for now, Dillon says the focus is on something simpler: honoring Busch the same way RCR honored Earnhardt more than two decades ago.
By sticking together. By continuing to race. And by making the people they lost proud.
Austin Dillon Says RCR Is Following the Same Blueprint It Used After Dale Earnhardt’s Death