Daytona looms large for Austin Dillon with NASCAR playoff hopes fading

NASCAR driver Austin Dillon’s chance to salvage his season comes down to two tracks that have defined his career.

Saturday’s push for a three-peat at the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway arrives two weeks ahead of the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway.

Four of Dillon’s six Cup Series wins came at the two venues. The knowledge gives the 36-year-old a much-needed boost during a trying season both personally and professionally.

“Those two racetracks — we have a ton of confidence at,” Dillon told the Orlando Sentinel this week. “I do feel good about what we got going on.”

Dillon’s past two showings in Richmond, his 2018 victory in the Daytona 500 and his 2022 win in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 showcased his diverse talents, prevailing on the .75-mile oval he’ll navigate this week and the iconic 2.5-mile superspeedway in Volusia County.

But little has gone right for Dillon this season, while he’s also had to process the tragedy of Richard Childress Racing teammate Kyle Busch’s death due to a sudden illness in May.

Dillon has driven since then to honor Busch and his family, including wife Samantha, while delivering for Childress, his grandfather and the Hall of Fame owner of Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet.

“We just want to go out there for Kyle and Samantha and everybody at RCR and make speed and make some good races … just trying to get the train back on the tracks here as best we can,” Dillon said.

Dillon has previously come through in the clutch for RCR.

The 2022 win at Daytona International Speedway earned him the final spot in the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs.

This season, NASCAR changed the format, in place since 2014, and did away with multi-round eliminations and the Championship 4 race while returning to a season-long points battle spanning all 36 races.

Dillon has not calculated his chances to qualify, but sits in 27th place — 144 points behind Austin Cindric in the 16th spot.

A first-place finisher receives 55 points, with additional points available for stage wins and fastest laps. Having taken the checkered flag at the 11th-hour before, Dillon will continue to push for a playoff spot.

“I’m not sure if the math’s gonna math,” he said. “From our perspective, getting to victory lane is as big as anything. If you get to victory lane, that season is considered a lot differently than what our trajectory is.

“That’s a big focus.”

Dillon is fresh off a strong 10th-place showing last weekend at Iowa. It’s just his third top-10 finish amid a season when he’s failed to finish four races.

He’s had to process his struggles while also welcoming 32-year-old Austin Hill to the team. Hill, a part-time Cup Series driver the past few seasons, replaced Busch.

“I’m glad he’s the guy I’m working with, and he’s working hard,” Dillon said.

Dillon has been fighting uphill since crashes ended his first two races, beginning with the 2026 Daytona 500.

A sixth-place showing May 10 at Watkins Glen was his only top-10 until he finished seventh July 12 at Atlanta.

“We put ourselves in a hole, and points really matter this year,” he said. ” It’s a different kind of deal where you can’t win and get in.”

Dillon has made five playoff appearances since 2016. He missed out in 2024, however, despite his Richmond win after surviving a chaotic overtime race. NASCAR penalized his team for making contact with Joey Logano on the final lap and then pushing Denny Hamlin into the wall before crossing the finish line.

Dillon experienced dramatics of a different soft when he won Daytona’s summer race two years earlier.

On Lap 158 of 160, Dillon overtook Cindric, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, to culminate an action-packed regular-season finale delayed 3 hours and 20 minutes by thunderstorms and completed a day late during a weather-plagued weekend.

“It was definitely an exciting and huge day for my family and myself and just a big day for our company,” he recalled. “We’re hoping to do that again.”

It might not be enough in the sport’s new playoff format. The move back to points to determine a champion is popular among many drivers, few more than Hamlin, as the 45-year-old, 64-time Cup Series winner seeks an elusive first championship.

Dillon is not completely sold.

“We shall see what the new format really gives us at the end of the year,” he said. “We all want to see and make sure that our fans are entertained by what the playoff system looks like. The racing is really good right now, so we’ll just have to see if it plays out to have a good finish.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.

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