RCR affirms Richmond success with Michigan speed

BROOKLYN, Mich. — After a controversial victory the race before, Richard Childress Racing backed up their speed with promising runs Monday at Michigan.

Both Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon picked up points in stage two. Busch earned his first stage win of the season while Dillon placed fifth.

Busch, a former winner at MIS in the Cup Series, ultimately finished fourth. He led 24 laps and held the lead with 34 laps to go in regulation, thanks to crew chief Randall Burnett’s two-tire call.

“It was a good pit strategy by Randall (Burnett) and the guys to keep our track position and keep us up front there,” Busch said.

However, Busch slipped back and couldn’t break his winless skid this year, even as the race went into double overtime.

“We took two tires at the end. And that wasn’t ideal on those short restarts. We hung on though and got a Top-5 finish out of it. We ran inside the Top-10 for the majority of the day and won a stage so that’s good for our No. 8 team. Maybe we needed a tick more speed, but it was a good top eight car and we got a little bit more out of that,” Busch said of his third Top-5 finish of 2024.

Dillon finished the day in 17th on the lead lap after earning six stage points in the second stage.

“At the end of the day, our No. 3 Camaro was probably a top-10 car,” he said. “We will keep building off the speed we’ve had these last couple of weeks and race for a win next weekend at Daytona International Speedway.”

Two races remain before the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs begin. While Busch is still mathematically eligible to get into the playoffs on points, a win is a better bet. Right now, Busch is 93 points below the cutline.

For Dillon, it’s either that or a successful appeal this week.

RCR appealed NASCAR’s decision to revoke the automatic playoff berth that Dillon and his team earned for winning at Richmond. The appeals panel will hear arguments from RCR team members Wednesday morning.

If the panel sides with RCR, Dillon and his team will race in the playoffs. If not, it’s game-on for the organization at Daytona and Darlington.