feature-image

USA Today via Reuters

feature-image

USA Today via Reuters

Last weekend at the Daytona International Speedway, Austin Dillon snatched one of the final two playoff spots. However, looking back, the Richard Childress Racing driver has not had things easy in his NASCAR career. Since he is the grandson of Richard Childress, there is always a bit of a cloud hanging over him.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

So, he and his grandfather have to go out of their way to get rid of the ‘nepotism’ shackle. In light of this, former NASCAR driver Jeff Burton spoke about Dillon and his Coke Zero Sugar 400 win.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

He said, “It’s important. Austin is aware. He has self-awareness too, that with being Richard Childress’ grandson, it’s a different ball game.”

“He always has to fight, and Richard always has to fight the perception of favoritism.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Joe Gibbs will have to fight it with his grandson. It’s just, natural. People are always like, ‘He’s getting this, he’s getting that’. They’ve got to double down and show people that we’re not showing favoritism.”

READ MORE: Austin Dillon Relieved to Avoid the Bubba Wallace-Talladega Narrative After his Playoff Sealing Win at Daytona

ADVERTISEMENT

Will Austin Dillon ever get rid of that tag?

If we’re being completely honest, it will be difficult to simply shrug it off. There will always be haters and critics, so it is up to him to shut them up firmly.

ADVERTISEMENT

At times, due to his Richard Childress connection, Dillon has been dubbed a ‘silver spoon kid’ and people believe the seat was handed on a platter. In a similar vein, one has to feel sorry for drivers who come from rich racing pedigrees or have a NASCAR connection.

article-image

USA Today via Reuters

Chase Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Kyle Petty, Ty Gibbs, and Ryan Blaney fall under this category. Even the likes of Todd Gilliland, Cody Ware, Harrison Burton, and others would have faced this at some point.

ADVERTISEMENT

WATCH THIS STORY: Richard Childress Gives All Important Update on the NASCAR Future of Tyler Reddick

ADVERTISEMENT

To Dillon’s credit, this Coke Zero Sugar 400 win takes his tally to 4 career wins in the Cup Series. So he is on the right track to prove a point to his haters and critics.

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Dhruv George

14,839 Articles

Dhruv George is EssentiallySports’ foremost authority on motorsport and a founding member of the outlet’s NASCAR desk. A Journalism graduate fluent in English and French, he brings over eight years of motorsports journalism experience covering everything from high-octane NASCAR battles to the finesse of Formula 1 and MotoGP. His extensive paddock access has earned him exclusive interviews with top names such as Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Ranvijay Singh

ADVERTISEMENT