“Not bad for a Silver Spoon kid.”
Even as Austin Dillon climbed from the #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet after his third NASCAR Cup victory at Texas Motor Speedway, he had to reference the taint that has plagued his entire Cup career.
Despite a Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Championship, an XFINITY championship and two marque Cup wins, Dillon has had to hear and read people claim he’s only in his ride because his grandfather is Richard Childress, the “RC” in RCR.
To make things more difficult, when Dillon arrived full-time in the Cup Series, it coincided with RCR’s re-introduction of the #3, made famous by the legendary 7-time Cup Champion Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and absent from NASCAR’s top level since the 2001 Daytona 500.
Even if Dillon might have been cut some slack if was driving the #33 (as he did for six starts in 2012-2013), he had a bullseye on him when it came to fans’ scorn for driving Earnhardt’s number.
Dillon is now in his seventh fill-time Cup season and has just three wins on his resume. In each case, his detractors have made excuses. The 2017 Coca Cola 600 was a full mileage race. He dumped Aric Almirola on the final lap on the 2018 Daytona 500. You can rest assured these same detractors will point to RCR teammate Tyler Reddick’s second place finish as proof of “team orders” to ensure Dillon the win.
While Dillon probably will and certainly should pay these detractors no mind, he might look no further than his younger brother, Ty, as proof of how distancing himself from RCR will not only silence some of the haters but also pay dividends for his career.
Ty drove for RCR in the Truck and XFINITY series but when it came time for him to come to Cup full-time, either by design or lack of opportunity at RCR, he opted to drive the #13 Chevrolet, with has a technical alliance with RCR. While Ty Dillon is still looking for his first Cup win, one certainly gets the sense he often gets more out of his equipment than most would. He also doesn’t seem to be on the receiving end of the social media scorn than his older brother does.
But what may propel Ty to “fight above his weight class” so to speak, is the lack of a safety net. Germain Racing may have an alliance with RCR but it remains a separate entity. This means Ty, unlike Austin, must continue to prove his worth to retain his ride, rather than rely on his family name and ties.
As someone who has worked with people related to their bosses, I have seen proof that no matter how good the intentions may be, there can be instances where people take advantage of the situation. They know they can show up late to the office or extend casual Friday to Thursday or the following Monday. Half-hour lunches last 45 minutes to an hour. And above all, the same goals and success points other employees must meet to remain employed become a little more lax for the boss’s son or daughter or cousin, etc.
Why? Because no one is going to fire family. They might want to. It might be in their best interest to. But it’s not going to happen.
While many a detractor might, I’m not going to suggest Austin Dillon is staying at RCR because he knows he doesn’t need to give his best effort and still retain his ride. He wouldn’t have won two championships if he did. He wouldn’t have won a Daytona 500 if he did. Instead, I think he is proud to drive for the company his grandfather built and to drive the car Dale Earnhardt made famous. I don’t think it’s a nepotism thing but rather a legacy thing.
But perhaps, subconsciously, there may be a danger that he may settle for a Top 15 when there was a possibility of a Top 10. And that’s not to bash Austin Dillon. I don’t think there’s anyone among us who hasn’t been in a situation where, for any number of reasons, has settled for less of a result than we were probably capable of. And often times it’s because we knew that particular result was all we needed to accomplish.
As much as Austin Dillon has accomplished in the Cup Series (three wins, two of which were considered Crown Jewel wins), one must wonder how much more he might accomplish without the safety net of Richard Childress Racing. Earlier this season, Chase Briscoe stated that he would need 7-8 wins to get a Cup ride for 2021. To date, he has five wins through sixteen races. Obviously, having that goal – and knowing achieving that goal will largely determine his racing future – has been an inspiration to Briscoe.
If Dillon was driving for another team and realized that he needed to win multiple races per season and go further into the playoffs than he has in the past in order to retain his ride, we might see three wins a season, not in a seven-year Cup career.
While it’s admirable for Dillon to want to honour his grandfather and one of the greatest drivers of all time, a switch to a new team where he would have to continue to prove himself might be the best thing to ever happen to Austin Dillon’s career.
johnmilner.ca 