Kyle Busch’s sophomore year with Richard Childress Racing is slowly turning out to be a disaster set in motion. From troubles on the racetrack to shuffles in the garage, RCR has often been at the butt-end of a NASCAR joke in recent years as the season heads to Martinsville. The #8 is not alone in his woes; as the driver of the iconic RCR #3, Austin Dillon has been the most recent to help spin the rumor mill at his grandfather’s organization. 

As Dillon makes his tenth annual Cup Series return to the 0.526-mile paperclip in Virginia, he revealed his conflicting reasons for a mid-season crew chief gamble, caught in between a disappointing NextGen slump.

Why did Austin Dillon swap Rodden for Alexander?

Dillon has been winless since his 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 triumph at Daytona, with crew chief Justin Alexander. The following season, as Keith Rodden stepped in place of a departing Alexander, the #3 car finished in the top 3 only once, registering its worst average finish with Austin Dillon at a disappointing 21.8. A sudden switch back after unraveling frustrations at Richmond has had many asking for answers, and Dillon did not disappoint the media.

Speaking about the difficulties of a mid-season overhaul, Austin Dillon agreed, although in hopes of a silver lining, “Yeah, it’s hard to make a change mid-season but having Justin be a part of RCR for as long as he has been and in the role that he was in, it kind of helped us just do a swap.” 

He continued his candid disclosure, “I think he communicates really well with me. You know, giving me information during the race, that is something I need. From his standpoint, he just tells me the right things, and I think communication is half the battle when the race starts. So yeah, it’s just been good for us in the past, and I think Keith did a really good job at starting things, and Justin does a really good job at starting things, but obviously, our communication that Justin and I have been able over the years has been able to get us to this point.” 

In 2022, NASCAR introduced the Generation 7 (NextGen) car, and the driver of the #3 Chevrolet collected three podium finishes and a string of top 10s, culminating in a second career Daytona victory. The 33-year-old driver had his best-performing season in 2022, when Alexander was still his crew chief. So, why the sudden fall-off for #3 as NASCAR evolves with progress in the NextGen era?

“I think morale for the team for just where we are with our program with the #3 car, we were heading in a good trajectory and when the NextGen car came out, we had the best year in the series with the NextGen car, and then we just kind of lost that momentum and we could never get it back going,” explained Austin Dillon. Nevertheless, as the conversations evolved, he made his reasons perfectly clear: “Justin and I have proven that we can execute together, so it’s good to have him back.”

Recapturing 2022 magic with Alexander and Engineer Keller

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Although Rodden and Austin Dillon never struck out to be the ideal duo, Dillon disclosed that Alexander and himself would never have parted if not for the demands of a balanced work-life experience. He added, “Like I said, and to get Justin, you know, back on board with travel and going to the racetrack, that was the biggest thing. Truthfully Justin and I wouldn’t have ever changed. It was just one of those things. That schedule is brutal. He’s got two young kids and he wanted something different. So when we had to make a change, it wasn’t ideal for both of us but it was something just needed to do.”

Moreover, Austin Dillon remembers that his “four Cup race wins have come with Justin and bringing back his engineer Joel Keller,” who was also part of the last Daytona winning #3 pit crew for RCR. But as Richard Childress’ grandson emphasized himself, “It’s just one of those things where execution is what I (Dillon) hope this change brings.”

The new ‘changes’ will be set in motion this Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, and as all the expectations run full speed towards RCR’s talented duo, Richard Childress may finally witness his first upset victory of the season very soon.

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