Austin Dillon: Truck Champion, Daytona 500 Winner and Richard Childress Racing Driver

Austin Dillon has driven the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing for most of his career, and the team belongs to his grandfather. Truck and Nationwide titles and a Daytona 500 victory mark his rise, while Cup races have been his main arena since 2014.

Who is Austin Dillon and how did his racing begin?

Austin Reed Dillon was born on 27 April 1990 and is an American professional stock car driver. He is the grandson of Richard Childress, the owner of Richard Childress Racing, and the older brother of Ty Dillon, who also races full-time in the Cup Series. His father, Mike Dillon, drove before taking a management role at the team.

Dillon's first racing came in Bandolero and Legends cars. Twelve months later, dirt oval racing began at a school run by Dale McDowell, who raced dirt late models himself.

The 2008 season brought him the rookie crown in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. Every race that year was run in the No. 3 Chevrolet, first for Andy Santerre Motorsports and then under his grandfather's RCR banner after four starts. Across thirteen races he collected a single victory at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, plus one pole and ten top-tens.

A champion who never won a race that season, a Daytona 500 winner from a lap down, and a driver whose career has moved through every level of NASCAR.

Truck Series years, 2009 to 2011

Dillon's Truck debut at Iowa Speedway came in the No. 3, a number that no major-series entry had carried since Earnhardt Jr. ran it in the Busch Series in 2002. At Talladega in 2009 the truck failed inspection, its time was struck from the record and he did not qualify for the race.

In 2010 he ran the No. 3 full-time. Despite an early crash at Daytona, he qualified on pole at Texas Motor Speedway in June, the first of his career, and finished third after leading 20 laps. On 11 July 2010 he won his first NASCAR race at Iowa Speedway. By the end of the year he had two wins and seven poles, which earned him Rookie of the Year honours in the series.

How did Austin Dillon win the 2011 Truck Series title?

Austin Dillon won the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship after two wins that season, at Nashville Superspeedway and Chicagoland Speedway. Rain shortened the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and the result left Dillon crowned as the series champion. He had also won the series Rookie of the Year award the season before.

The title came with a further honour, the 2011 Most Popular Driver Award in the series. The step up followed quickly. In 2012 he moved to the Nationwide Series full-time in the No. 3 Chevrolet run by RCR, with AdvoCare, American Ethanol and Bass Pro Shops as sponsors.

The car carried a number that Dale Earnhardt had made famous. On 29 June 2012 Dillon won at Kentucky Speedway, leading almost every lap and finishing more than 9.8 seconds ahead of second place. Afterwards inspectors found the car had failed post-race checks, because its rear ride heights sat too low.

How did Austin Dillon win the 2013 Nationwide title without a win?

Austin Dillon claimed the 2013 Nationwide Series title in a season when he did not win a single race. He finished the year with a twelfth-place run in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was enough to secure the championship. He also ran part of the Cup schedule that year, which made his season unusually busy.

AdvoCare was the primary sponsor for his full Nationwide season. Alongside that programme he ran seven Cup races, and at the Daytona 500 he qualified eighth before a late crash left him 31st.

Earlier that season he came back to the trucks for the first running of the Mudsummer Classic at Eldora Speedway. He led 63 laps, the most of anyone that night, and took victory following a green-white-checkered finish. The truck and trophy, along with a piece of the dirt track, now sit in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The championship made him the first champion in any of NASCAR's three national series to go winless in a season. Later that year he also filled in for Tony Stewart, who was out with a leg injury, driving Stewart's No. 14 car at Michigan and Talladega.

At Talladega that October he ran in the top five for much of the day and was third at the white flag. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. turned him into the backstretch wall, and Casey Mears struck his rear bumper, which sent the car airborne.

When did Austin Dillon become a full-time Cup driver?

Austin Dillon became a full-time Cup Series driver in 2014. He drove for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 3 car, with Cheerios and Dow Chemical Company as primary sponsors. It was the first Cup appearance for that number in thirteen years, so the move was a notable return for the car.

The team confirmed the move in December 2013. At the 2014 Daytona 500 qualifying session Dillon took the pole at 196.019 mph (315.462 km/h), a result that put the No. 3 back at the front of the field for the biggest race of the year.

His first full Cup season began with a long run of poor finishes. He recovered with a top-five at the Coke Zero 400, and finished 2014 as one of only two drivers running at the finish of every race, the other being Jeff Gordon. He placed second in the rookie standings behind Kyle Larson.

What happened in the 2015 Coke Zero 400 crash?

Austin Dillon's car flipped during the 2015 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona on 5 July, after Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer made contact with it as the field approached the checkered flag. The car flipped into the catch fence and came to rest on its roof, and Dillon climbed out with only bruising.

The car struck the fence at roughly 190 miles per hour and was then hit again by Brad Keselowski while it was almost stationary. Dillon had bruising to his tailbone and forearm, while five fans were injured by flying debris. He was credited with seventh place.

The rest of the 2015 season was mixed. In the first half he managed only one Cup top-ten finish, tenth at the spring race at Bristol. He finished the year 21st in the standings with one top-five and five top-tens. In the Xfinity Series he won four races while running part-time, two of them at Las Vegas and Charlotte.

How did Austin Dillon win the 2018 Daytona 500?

Austin Dillon won the 2018 Daytona 500 after climbing from a lap down to second on the final lap. On that last lap he collided with Aric Almirola, who had tried to block him, and Almirola was driven into the outside wall. Dillon went on to take the victory.

Two decades separated this win from Dale Earnhardt's lone Daytona 500 triumph, and the date fell exactly seventeen years after Earnhardt's death. The victory also guaranteed Dillon a place in the playoffs.

The rest of the 2018 season was less consistent. He recorded two top-five and five top-ten finishes in the Cup Series, struck the wall on the outside twice at the Charlotte Roval, and went out in the Round of 16. He finished thirteenth in the points standings.

In the Xfinity Series that year he reached his one-hundredth career top-ten finish at California, coming fourth. He also took a June Xfinity victory at Michigan, where rain brought the race to a premature end on lap 91. Later he drove a Kaulig Racing car at Indianapolis, the first time that team had fielded two cars in a race.

Career results at a glance

What penalties affected Austin Dillon in 2023 and 2024?

In 2023 the No. 3 team lost sixty driver and owner points after an unapproved underwing was found at Martinsville. In 2024 Dillon was penalised for race manipulation at the Martinsville playoff race, which cost the team 50 owner and driver points and brought fines of US$100,000 each for Dillon and the team.

After the 2023 Martinsville race, NASCAR's R&D Center found an unapproved underwing assembly during post-inspection, and the car received an L1 penalty. The team also lost five playoff points, while crew chief Keith Rodden faced a US$75,000 fine and a two-race suspension. Dillon finished that season 29th in the standings.

The 2024 season included a win that did not last. The Richmond summer event saw Dillon end a 68-race drought by sending Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin into spins on the final lap, and both drivers criticised the move. Three days later NASCAR encumbered the win, docked him 25 driver points and removed his playoff eligibility.

At the Martinsville playoff race, Dillon and Ross Chastain, both Chevrolet drivers, blocked the track so that William Byron could reach the Championship 4. NASCAR docked the No. 3 team 50 owner and driver points and suspended crew chief Justin Alexander for the Phoenix finale. Dillon finished the season 32nd, the lowest points finish of his career.

How has Austin Dillon's Cup career developed since 2020?

Austin Dillon reached the playoffs in 2020, 2022 and 2025. His 2020 season included a Texas win on 19 July that ended an 88-race winless streak, while his 2022 playoff place came from a Daytona win. In 2025 he returned to the playoffs after a Richmond victory that came without controversy.

In 2020 he took fourth at Las Vegas, then won at Texas with RCR teammate Tyler Reddick second, the first one-two finish for the team since 2011. Later he finished second at the Southern 500 after starting from the rear because of unapproved adjustments. He reached the Round of 12 and finished eleventh in the points.

The 2021 campaign opened by taking the Duel race at Daytona, after he passed Bubba Wallace on the final lap. He finished third in the 500 itself after leading seven laps and avoiding a last-lap crash, which put him at the top of the standings for the first time in his career.

In 2022 he won the Daytona race that clinched his playoff place, then finished with three straight top-ten results. A multi-car pileup at Bristol ended his playoff run in the Round of 16.

The 2025 campaign brought a new crew chief, Richard Boswell, whom RCR signed in November 2024 to replace Alexander. Dillon started the year with a 23rd-place finish at the Daytona 500, then scored several top-ten finishes before his Richmond win. He opened 2026 with a 37th-place result at the Daytona 500.

Did Austin Dillon race outside NASCAR's stock car series?

Yes. In 2021 he made his 24 Hours of Daytona debut in an LMP2 sports car for RWR-Eurasia Motorsport, sharing the car with Cody Ware and a third driver. He also raced in a Canadian Tire Series event in 2012 and drove for Young's Motorsports in a dirt Truck race at Bristol in 2022.

That August 2012 outing at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal ended with a seventh-place run for the No. 4 car, which Fitzpatrick Motorsports fielded.

The Bristol dirt race was the Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt. Dillon had expected to drive a different team truck, but that race was on Kaz Grala's schedule, so Dillon took the No. 20 instead.

Life away from the track

Together with Ty, Dillon owns a management company, Team Dillon Management, which looks after the affairs of drivers. Its roster includes both brothers and several other NASCAR drivers, among them Austin Hill, Christian Eckes and Parker Retzlaff.

He has run the Carolina Cowboys as general manager since 2022. The squad is one of ten bull riding sides in the Professional Bull Riders Team Series. His maternal grandfather Richard Childress is a co-owner alongside Jeff Broin, and the Carolina Cowboys lifted the PBR Team Series crown in 2025.

On screen, Dillon had a cameo in the 2019 film Stuber alongside his brother and Daniel Suarez. He guest starred as a NASCAR driving instructor in an episode of SEAL Team, and he appeared in the 2021 Netflix series The Crew with Ryan Blaney and Cole Custer. His family life also reached television through the USA reality programme Austin Dillon's Life in the Fast Lane.

A die-cast character inspired by him, Carstin Ace Dillon, was released in the Disney and Pixar Cars toyline in 2021. An all-plastic version followed in 2024 as a pack-in with the Race Lane Change playset.

He studied part-time at High Point University, graduating in 2018. He married Whitney Ward, a former NFL cheerleader, on 9 December 2017.