Austin Dillon took the chequered flag at the Daytona Internation Speedway last week, with a little helpful push from his teammate Tyler Reddick.

Many speculated that it was Reddick’s attempt to cure the wrongs he had done to Richard Childress Racing after announcing that he’d be heading to 23XI Racing for the 2024 season. However, both Reddick and Dillon were quick to shut down that rumor.

During the post-race interview, Reddick stated, “I did it for us, didn’t even, wasn’t even on my mind honestly, just trying to get my friend my teammate, fellow driver RCR in the playoffs, because it’s not just my fellow group guys that deserve it, it’s everybody at RCR that works really hard on these cars.”

Later on, during the media conference, Dillon stated, “No, when Tyler made his decision a couple of months ago, I congratulated him, and for me being a owner’s son, sometimes comes the caveats and I wanted to make sure I had nothing to do with the reasons that he was leaving”

“And when I called him, ‘hey man, just making sure I have been a good teammate to you’ and no, he’s been like you’ve been an amazing teammate, I love working with you, Austin.”

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He added, “Congratulations on your deal, lets’s go try and win some races for RCR the next year and a half”.

He also mentioned that Reddick has been an inspiration for him to pick up his speed, stating that they’ve “rubbed off” on each other. He concluded by stating that he could trust him when Tyler Reddick got on his back bumper during the race at Daytona.

Austin Dillon makes his way into the playoffs after winning at Daytona

Austin Dillon was helped by his teammate Tyler Reddick to lead the final few laps and win the race at the Daytona International Speedway. This result in turn secured the RCR driver into the playoffs starting September 4th at Darlington Raceway.

The race was initially delayed by three hours due to rain, but when it finally went underway, a massive wreck took out a lot of cars. However, Dillon was lucky enough not to be involved in the mess.

During the final few laps, Dillon was able to overtake Austin Cindric before he effortlessly drove off to take the chequered flag, with his teammate and friend Tyler Reddick right behind him.

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As Dillon sneaked his way into the playoffs, Martin Truex Jr could not make it through. Instead, the second playoff spot went to Ryan Blaney. The Playoff standing is currently being led by Chase Elliott and with the playoff action about to begin, it’s time for everyone to buckle themselves in to see who takes the championship home.