Austin Dillon advances as Chase for the Sprint Cup underdog
DOVER, Del. — There’s a new underdog in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and his name is Austin Dillon.
Dillon, a fiery little ball of energy whose passion for racing is obvious, was pumped up after defying expectations to advance into the second round of NASCAR’s playoff in his first try.
The third-year driver took advantage of misfortune that struck Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray on Sunday at Dover International Speedway, using an eighth-place finish to qualify for Round 2 by 11 points.
Based on Dillon’s previous Dover finishes — none better than 20th in six starts — he wasn’t favored to be among the top 12 drivers after the first elimination. But he made it, and now he’ll go up against the sport’s powerhouse teams to see if he can make it to the final eight.
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"I want to keep upsetting these guys, man," Dillon said on pit road after hugging and high-fiving his crew members. "There’s a lot of guys in this that don’t think we should be here, and I’m proud to be the car that’s here."
Dillon is the lone car from Richard Childress Racing in the playoff. He’ll now go up against a five-car Joe Gibbs Racing conglomerate (which includes Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.) and three pairs of teammates from Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing and Team Penske.
His season statistics are the worst among them. But Dillon is confident after qualifying for the second round, especially after his team overcame a sloppy start at Chicagoland Speedway and wrecked the primary car in practice last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
"I’m still awestruck," he said. "Proud to be going on to the final 12 and having race cars that are capable of keeping moving on. I’ve got three solid tracks coming up, and I’m going to drive the wheels off it and have fun while we’re here."
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Dillon called Sunday’s race the highest point of his career so far. Now he goes to Charlotte Motor Speedway, which he considers his best track.
It’s been a roller-coaster year for Dillon, but his team might be able to thrive amidst little pressure and no expectations.
"The biggest thing is just never giving up," Dillon said. "We could have given up in that second practice (Saturday) when it was raining and drizzling. I got frustrated and tried to just calm myself and believe in what we were doing as a team, and we got it done."
Follow Jeff Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck.
