Austin Dillon’s quest for another crown jewel win intensifies as he battles to escape teammate Kyle Busch’s shadow

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon was featured on Chevrolet's media day on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, and expressed his feelings about escaping teammate Kyle Busch's shadow at the Darlington Race. The "Throwback Weekend" event at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for April 6, 2025, and the crown jewel event, the Southern 500, is scheduled for August 31, 2025.

Dillon has had a rough start in the 2025 season and has been struggling to park his car among the top ten drivers. His best finish came at Phoenix Raceway, where he clinched a P12 finish. In seven starts this season, Dillon has secured only 114 points and ranks 27th on the Cup Series driver's points table.

Meanwhile, his teammate Kyle Busch ranks 11 places above him and sits in the 16th spot with 150 points. Busch has secured three top-ten and one top-five finishes in seven starts this season. His best finish came at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), where he finished fifth after starting the race from eighth place.

The #8 Chevy Camaro ZL1 has overshadowed Austin Dillon in the 2025 season. Reflecting upon the same, Dillon gave a crystal-clear verdict before stepping foot at Darlington Speedway.

"Darlington has been a good track for us. I really enjoy Darlington. It's so tough; it is everything that we promote it to be as far as the level of difficulty, and you're just right up against the limit, right up against the wall, and tires still fall off, even with this NextGen era. It's one of those races where you earn your money, and the driver has a lot of value for taking care of the tires, long run, pace, and all those things," stated Kyle Busch's teammate, via SpeedwayDigest.com.

"I enjoy Darlington; it's also one of those races that I need to add to the Crown Jewel victories because I got the 500, and I got the Brickyard. The Southern 500 is the one you need, right? I know it's not the Southern 500, but a Darlington win would be enough to cover it. If I can check the box, I would love to," he added.

Austin Dillon secured his career-best finish at Darlington Raceway on September 6, 2020, where he finished in P2. His second-best finish came three years prior in 2017 when he secured a P4 finish. In last year's race, Dillon finished in 15th place after starting the race from P16.

---

NASCAR champion Kyle Busch expressed his true feelings about taking retirement from NASCAR

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch competed head-to-head with his son, Brexton Busch, on March 26, 2025. Following the event, the veteran was asked about his retirement plans. He told FS1 that he once considered retiring, but he has to achieve his goal of bringing RCR back to victory lane before doing so.

The Las Vegas native debuted in the Cup Series with Hendrick Motorsports in 2003 and then landed a full-time seat in 2006. He moved to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008 and won two Cup Series titles in 2015 and 2019 before he transitioned to Richard Childress Racing in 2023. Since then, he has won only three races and has been on a 63-race winless streak.

During a pre-race interview at the Martinsville Speedway 400-lap race, Kyle Busch explained:

"When you're still out here, being able to enjoy what you're doing, working with your team and continuing to try and improve RCR and improve the program, and get it to where we all wanted and put ourselves in victory lane, we're going to keep working at it."

The Richard Childress Racing driver qualified 12th for the Cook Out 400, and Austin Dillon began the race from P18. The duo ended the first short-track race outside the top ten drivers, with Kyle Busch in P17 and Dillon in P18.