Austin Dillon calls out tire wear at Bristol after elimination from NASCAR Playoffs

Tonight ended in disappointment for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team as they were eliminated from the NASCAR Playoffs. Dillon was 15 points from advancing to the Round of 12.

Christopher Bell got the win. It was a night full of twists and turns. Drivers were dealing with severe tire wear, and teams and crew chiefs had to respond quickly. Dillon’s team was one of the first to experience a worn-out tire and never recovered.

Others were able to recover from early tire failures. Then there were those like Dillon who couldn’t. After the race, Dillon talked about his frustrations, the tires, and being eliminated.

“Well, we didn’t process it fast enough,” Dillon said on the post-race show. “I just thought we had a flat tire, and I was losing the right front. I didn’t know we were cording tires that fast, um, I just thought we were tight. And I was like, ‘Well, it fired off fine,’ and it was cording just like they did that one race a year ago or so. It’s unfortunate, you know, I know NASCAR doesn’t want that to be the race for the playoffs because you want to be able to go out and race it out.

“Our car didn’t have any problems, no tire wear in practice. I mean, I’m guessing the temperature change is the biggest thing, and we just weren’t able to race. We wanted to be able to race hard, and it came into just putting around, trying to make tires live kind of race, and our car wasn’t good for that. It’s unfortunate for our Bass Pro Shops Winchester [team]. Just wanted the shot to race and didn’t feel like we really had that tonight.”

So, Austin Dillon is clearly not a fan of the tire wear at Bristol. P28 was not what this team needed.

Austin Dillon wanted a chance to race

For the Richard Childress No. 3 team, things did fall apart quickly. AJ Allmendinger had an issue. Then it was Austin Dillon. Then it was another, and another, and another driver. Soon, everyone knew what was happening and crew chiefs were scrambling.

The Spring 2024 race played out in similar fashion. Tonight, the Bristol Night Race gave us a really good product compared to what we have seen from Bristol not just in the Next Gen era, but for many years.

Still, Austin Dillon wasn’t a fan. He struggled and now, he’s out of the NASCAR Playoffs.

“Miles and the guys were trying so hard to get us back on the lead lap, trying to get things to fall right, but truthfully, our car just, we couldn’t go as long as we needed to as fast as we needed to,” Dillon continued on TV. “I mean, there was opportunities there to be better, but I went hard one run, and 21 laps was all I got before I was corded.

“We were shot really fast. So, I had to really manage tires and try and keep it underneath me and hope things played out. Truthfully, they played out as good as we could’ve. If we run 15th tonight, we probably transfer. But things hit us fast here at the beginning, being the first car to really go through it.”