Richard Childress’ Grandson Owns Up to Crash With Brother at Gateway as Playoff Pressure Mounts

No one saw it coming, but that is exactly how sneaky the weight of playoff pressure gets. Austin Dillon rolled into the World Wide Technology Raceway knowing that this could be his lifeline. And when you are 8 points below the cut line, every lap matters. That’s exactly when you are also the most prone to mistakes. The grandson of Richard Childress crossed an unthinkable line, sliding up into his own brother and wrecking the Kaulig driver’s day. And just like that, a desperate bid for survival turned into a family collision, which Austin Dillon wishes he could take back. But is it too late?

After starting 15th, Austin Dillon soon found himself mired deep in the 30s, locked in a bitter battle with his brother Ty Dillon, whose No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was suffering from tight handling. The showdown took a dramatic turn when the No. 3 got loose, snapped up the track, and slammed into Ty, spinning him out and bringing out a caution in the middle of Stage 2. At that point, they were duking it out for 32nd place, a far cry from where either had hoped to be. And the aftermath was instant regret. Austin admitted over the radio, “Yeah, I’m f—— loose. I would never want to do that. I f—— just lost it … I’m so sorry.”

Fast forward to after the race, Austin Dillon owned up to his mistake and expressed his thoughts on taking a jab at his brother. Speaking in a post-race interview, the RCR driver didn’t shy away from taking one on the chin. He said, “ I just got loose. I mean, I—it’s tough, man. I felt terrible about it, but you know, we had the eight, the three, and the 10 running dead last back there, racing each other, and we’re all undrivable. So, I just hate that he was the one that I did it to. I didn’t mean to. I just lost it.” 

He still recovered to finish 18th, but the No. 10 Chevy’s race ended in heartbreak after a brake failure sent him into the wall, ultimately finishing 34th. But Austin Dillon had his own struggles with the car amid this crash. The 35-year-old entered the NASCAR Cup Playoff race at WWT Raceway 14th in the standings, desperate to claw his way back into contention. But it quickly became clear that his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet had other ideas.

NASCAR, Motorsport, USA AdventHealth 400 May 11, 2025 Kansas City, Kansas, USA NASCAR Cup Series drivers Ty Gibbs 54 and Austin Dillon 3 race during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Kansas City Kansas Speedway Kansas USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xScottxSewellx 20250511_tbs_as4_112

It all began with his teammate, Kyle Busch. The No. 8 driver was struggling alongside Austin, with Busch spinning on his own at Turn 2 to trigger the first caution, and the two-time Cup Series champion found himself finishing the race 22nd, just five positions below his teammate.

Austin Dillon wasn’t having it with their car either. Earlier in the race, frustration boiled over the radio while he complained, “Quit telling me how to drive; I’m driving a piece of s—.” Moreover, Austin even admitted to apologizing to Ty Dillon and Kaulig Racing while blaming his terrible car. He said, “I got to apologize to Ty and Kaulig. If I want to spin out under anybody, it ain’t him. It’s any of these other cats I would have rather done that too. I felt like an idiot doing that. Our cars were just terrible. We had no grip on entry.”

And amid car handling issues and bumping into his brother, Dillon even opened up about the tough love situation within RCR and how that helps them perform better. However, that came undone pretty quickly, and now, as the NASCAR Cup garage heads to Bristol, Dillon revealed his game plan.

Austin Dillon is set to work on the balance of the car ahead of the Bristol race

And as Austin Dillon finds himself one spot behind SVG, Bristol looks like a proving ground for the RCR driver. In this year’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Austin started at 17th and finished 10th, earning his first top 10 of the season. He climbed steadily through strategy and pit stops to secure the result. Season-wide up to that point, Dillon’s average start was approximately 18.82, and his average finish hovered right around 20.07.

When asked about his preparation for Bristol next Sunday, Austin kept it simple, still haunted by the Gateway results. He said, “I mean, we’re going to prepare the same we do every week and hopefully do a better job of hitting our balance. Um, you know, we executed as best we could with the car we had today. We just our whole organization missed it, unfortunately. You know, it’s just not the time to miss it. But, um, yeah, I mean, we fought hard. Getting stage points was huge. Um, and we just didn’t have enough at the end really to hold where we were at. 18th was the best we had been all day.” 

Historically, Richard Childress Racing and Dillon have shown mixed success at Bristol’s paved surface, with his best being a fourth-place result in the fall of 2016. And now, as the team heads to the second race in the Round of 16, it’s no secret that Austin Dillon will try to channel his Bristol luck.

The post Richard Childress’ Grandson Owns Up to Crash With Brother at Gateway as Playoff Pressure Mounts appeared first on EssentiallySports.