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NASCAR insiders react to Austin Dillon, Richard Childress redemption win at Richmond: 'Better than revenge'

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones08/17/25brianjones_93
Austin Dillon (7)
Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond on Saturday, and two NASCAR insiders loved seeing it. On The Teardown podcast, Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck of The Athletic reacted to Dillon and Richard Childress Racing getting the win at Richmond after everything that happened to him after winning at the same track last year.

“This was the best day for Richard Childress Racing,” Bianchi said. “This is better than revenge to have that taken away from them; now they did what they did. But to come here to win, there’s no fluke, there was no lucky break; they went out there and won.

“Austin Dillon drove a fantastic race. He was flawless tonight. The pit crew was flawless tonight. They had speed, they beat Penske, they beat Hendrick, they beat them all. This was a great race. They shaked it off from last year, whatever that was, and they came in and they sent a statement.”

Austin Dillon had a ‘performance that he needed’ at Ricmond

Gluck believes Austin Dillon had the best night of his career. “This was a race in which he went out and controlled the race, was the fastest car, they made the right strategy calls, and all that stuff,” Gluck said. “He was very much confident in command. This wasn’t like, oh man, he stole the race on the last lap kind of moment at all.”

Gluck then mentioned what happened with Dillon at last year’s Richmond race. Dillon won but could not compete in the playoffs because NASCAR penalized him for reckless driving. Gluck said Dillon was in the lead late in the race and was going to win. But when a caution came out late, Dillon wrecked Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to get the win.

“For him to come back a year later and do this and just kick everybody’s butt, over 100 laps led, just a performance that he needed,” Gluck added. Dillon now has six victories in his NASCAR Cup Series career and is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Along with his win at Richmond, Dillon has earned five top-10 finishes this year.