"I think we’re the underdog" - Austin Dillon expresses confidence ahead of NASCAR Kansas race this weekend

Kansas City welcomes Austin Dillon and his fellow Cup Series drivers this weekend at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway track on Sunday, September 11th. This is the second time Dillon will be hitting the Kansas track with the Next Gen car.

This time around, however, things are a little bit different from his last visit. His first visit in May was during the regular season, but he is locked in the playoffs this time and will be marking his second race.

Approaching his second playoff race in Kansas this weekend, Austin Dillon is pretty confident with the track and believes he has a chance to take the Hollywood Casino 400 trophy. According to him, RCR has shown speed in every type of track this season and is happy to be in the position he’s in.

While giving his thoughts to the media on the chances of winning the race, Dillon cited that he thinks they’re the “underdog.” In his statement, he said:

“I’m confident at the tracks in the playoffs. RCR has shown speed at every type of track with Tyler Reddick winning the road courses, and the No. 3 team winning the speedway. At Martinsville Speedway, I finished third but was probably the second-best car there, and we probably should have won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. I was really close there. I’m happy to be in this spot and I think we’re the underdog.”

From where he sits at the moment, Dillon says some people have already started sidelining them, but according to him, that doesn’t bother him much. Apart from wanting that win, his other mission is to go and have fun and upset those guys. In his statement, he said:

“Some people are already putting us out, which is just fine with me because it takes the pressure off and we’ll go have fun and try to upset some of these guys. We’re taking it as survive and advance mode from here on out.”

Currently, both Richard Childress Racing drivers, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick, are locked in the playoffs, but Dillon is sitting in a pretty tight spot in the playoff standings. The 32-year-old driver sits 14th with two races remaining before Round 12, which means his best shot currently stands at Kansas.

Even though the point margins between the contestants are very small, he still has to outsmart those ahead of him to sit in a good position. Dillon is two points behind Cindric and four points behind Daniel Suarez, who sits at the Round of 12 cut line.

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Austin Dillon's performance in 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season

Judging from his past races, we can say Austin Dillon has had his fair share of bad and good days in office. His car has been one of the fastest cars this season, earning three runner-up positions. According to him, his car was probably the second-best car on the track at Martinsville, but he ended up settling for P3.

Austin Dillon has nine top 10 finishes, most of which he earned in the first half of the season. The second half has been pretty tough for him, and though he managed to earn a win, the month of July went hard on him, scoring two back-to-back DNFs.

Dillon has also been part of the on-track controversy this season with his long-time on-track rival Brad Keselowski. The two made headlines in New Hampshire after he cited that he wasn’t ready for a conversation with Keselowski after they went hard on each other.