Richard Childress Racing: 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Profile
Ahead of Sunday’s Cookout Southern 500 at Darlington (6 p.m. ET; TV: NBCSN, Radio: MRN), we are profiling the seven teams that make up the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series playoff field. In this article, we are profiling Richard Childress Racing and their playoff driver, Austin Dillon.
No. 3 Austin Dillon (Tied for 10th in points, +1 ahead of 13th place Clint Bowyer)
Chevrolet has seen an uptick in performance this season that is not quite as drastic as the first seven races indicated, but has helped a team like Richard Childress Racing. After 26 races, Dillon has scored his best average finish (16.9) since 2016 and most top 10s at this point in a season since 2016, while also leading the most laps (80) in a single season of his career. Dillon and his team still have some work to do to get out of the first round. Dillon was ranked 18th in the regular season standings, 93 points behind Matt DiBenedetto, who earned the final playoff spot on points. Dillon also has the third-worst average finish of all playoff drivers, besting only Alex Bowman (17.0) and Cole Custer (19.9), while also having the second-lowest amount of stage points (57) of all playoff drivers, besting only Cole Custer (18). Thankfully for Dillon, he is seeded tenth in the playoffs and going to three tracks that are among his ten best tracks, including Darlington where he has a 13.2 average finish and a 10th-place finish scored in last year’s Southern 500. Dillon will contend for a transfer spot out of the first round but the second round is questionable. No less, a playoffs spot via a win for Dillon is enough of a success for him and his team that finished 21st in points with no wins last season.
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com