Amid Rumors of Austin Dillon’s Cup Series Exit, Richard Childress Brings In Another Grandson for Indianapolis
“I’m more involved than I have been in several years because I want to get the right people to help me make the right decisions,” Richard Childress said to NBC earlier this month. The Hall of Fame car owner’s desperation is understandable since both Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch are in a must-win situation to make the playoffs. And to salvage, the veteran seems to have once again banked on his family.
One of Childress’ grandsons, Austin Dillon, has been carrying his misfortune from last season forward in this season as well. Last year, Austin led the Cup Series in DNFs by failing to finish 10 races and finished 29th. To date, he remains winless in his last 66 races and could miss the playoffs for the third time in the last four years. According to reports, now Childress has put his trust in his other grandson, Ty Dillon.
An X post by Austin Konenski, motorsports writer for MotorsportsWire revealed that Ty Dillon will drive the No. 33 car for Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ty had a great run in Indianapolis in 2014 and, in fact, won the Xfinity race then. He passed Kyle Busch on the final restart and held him off. He even finished second to Chase Elliott in the 2014 NNS Rookie of the Year standings. In March, it was announced that Ty will run five NASCAR Cup series races in the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.
Dillon, after signing up, said, “I’m excited to be back in the NASCAR Cup Series with Kaulig Racing. This is the highest level of our sport and allows me to go out and prove what I can do with great leaders in Matt Kaulig, Chris Rice, Travis Mack, and the entire team. Kaulig Racing gives me the best opportunity to showcase what I can do on the track. “
At that time, Ty was competing full-time in the Craftsman Truck series for Rackley W.A.R. However, he was a full-time Cup driver from 2017 through 2020 and then in 2022 and 2023. He’s made 238 career starts with seven top-10 finishes. While Ty gets ready to uphold the family’s legacy, Austin’s career seems to be at crossroads and a shift of role might be imminent for him.
In May, The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi reported that Austin signed a multi-year contract extension to continue driving the No. 3 car for Richard Childress Racing. But this year, Austin Dillon has finished just twice in the top ten and three times in the top twenty, and we are just five races away from the playoffs. Notably, his performance has been dipping after the 2022 NASCAR season.
Many have blamed not Austin, but his crew chief, Keith Rodden, for his downfall. But even after RCR decided to replace Rodden, things still don’t look any better. Meanwhile, in another shocking development, RCR’s competition director Andy Petree suddenly stepped aside last month.
Taking these together, rumors are flying that Austin might shift to a full-time executive role in RCR. But who will replace the 34-year-old in that case?
If RCR wanted an experienced driver, 30-year-old superspeedway ace Austin Hill could step into the No. 3. On the contrary, if the team looks for young blood to complement veteran Kyle Busch, 19-year-old Jesse Love might be the one to go for. But here is a twist that might sound a bit troublesome. Keith Rodden is returning as crew chief, this time with Ty Dillon.
Keith Rodden was taken off the role of crew chief by Austin Dillon just a few months after Richmond. The fact that Richmond has been a great track for Dillon and he still underperformed—just set those alarm bells. And finally, they made the move.
The fans were already instigating it, and the team did listen. Andy Petree, the ex-VP of Competition at Richard Childress Racing, said, “The organizational changes were made to help Richard Childress Racing’s overall NASCAR Cup Series program as we prepare for the rest of the season and locking two teams into the NASCAR Playoffs.” But such poor luck that even with the changes, both Busch and Dillon haven’t been able to make it to the playoffs yet, and just two races remain.
Now they replaced Rodden with Justin Alexander, with whom Austin Dillon had good chemistry. Under him, Dillon had clinched four Cup series victories. Meanwhile, Rodden was shifted to an internal position in the organization. So it only seems like a crazy bet that the team would bring him on with yet another driver and give it a go to make it to the playoffs.
