NASCAR Cup Series driver celebrates his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet victory with his son.
For the second time in as many years, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Austin Dillon won the night race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday.
As a result, he and the No. 3 Chevrolet team of Richard Childress Racing have solidly locked themselves into the 2025 NCS Playoffs. Unlike last year, Dillon will remain in the Playoffs and a chance to race for the championship.
Dillon made quite the case for himself leading 107 of the 400 laps at the .75-mile oval, after a very spirited side-by-side multi-lap battle with Ryan Blaney, who finished third to Alex Bowman’s second.
Dillon Knows What this Win Means
“I really wanted that one,” Dillon said. “Last year hurt really bad. Just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond. I’m so excited to get my wife and kids here to celebrate with us.
“Every one of these means so much to me and my grandfather (Richard Childress) for all that he’s put up with and believing in me. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, and it could have been easy for him to change the driver in this No. 3 car
“But today, it feels really darn good.”
Richmond Win in 2024 was Great, at First
Dillon won this race last year, went to Victory Lane, took the pictures, held up the trophy and talked about how great it was to make the Playoffs.
However, because of what took place in the closing laps with Dillon dumping Denny Hamlin and Joey Lagano, NASCAR deemed Dillon could keep the victory. But, he would not be allowed to participate in the 2024 NCS Playoffs because of his late-race actions.
After two appeals to NASCAR’s ruling, the RCR No. 3 team was issued penalties to add more insult to their situation.
Fair and Square for 2025 Playoff
This year, there is no doubt Dillon will compete for a Championship via the NCS playoff system. He opened up a significant lead from the other cars in the top five, made no contact with drivers in the closing laps and enters the Playoffs as the 14th driver to make it on a victory.
As a result, there are only two positions remaining in the field of 16 eligible for the Playoffs. Heading into the cutoff race next Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, Tyler Reddick sits 89 points above the cut line and Bowman is 60 up.
“I think with the way that race normally goes, it’s about a must-win at that point because I think you’re most likely going to have a new winner,” Bowman said after Saturday’s race. “Yeah, just need to go execute and try to win the race. That’s all we can really do.
“Looks like we maybe can get to (Tyler Reddick). Looks like he had a bad day. Looks like a big gap, so just got to go to work.
“That’s all we can do at this point. That’s what we’ve been doing, right? We’ve been doing a lot of good things. Unfortunately, just one spot short tonight.”
Tim Packman Tim Packman is a journalist for Heavy.com covering NASCAR. He grew up around the short tracks of Western New York watching his dad, stepdad and step brother race. His uncle was the head starter at many area tracks and member of the FOAR Score Hall of Fame.
Tim’s passion for racing took him to the announcer’s tower and writing program stores for multiple tracks in the area. In 2000, he moved to Mooresville, NC to become an award-winning journalist for NASCAR.com. He took a job with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. as the team’s Communications Director and was part of two Daytona 500 wins and two NASCAR Championships.
The announcing experience led to becoming a Pit Reporter and News Director for MRN Radio. A return to the team side at Richard Childress Racing as the Director of Corporate Communications took place, which also included another Championship.
From 2015 to 2018, Tim returned to where his career began in 1994 – Lancaster National Speedway & Dragway – as the Track President. He earned Short Track Promoter of the Year awards in 2016 and 2017.
Upon returning to NC, he joined The Garage Shop as Communications Director and host of it’s Podcast and MAV-TV docuseries “Legacy of Speed” talking about Land Speed Racing at Bonneville, and other places.
Tim has hosted two other Podcasts, namely “Pub Table Racers,” and wrote three books. One was with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison titled, “Bobby Allison, a Racer’s Racer” and two Children’s books, “Funny Dan the Race Car Man” and “Petey the Pace Car.”
He also served in the US Navy. More about Tim Packman
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