Austin Dillon wants to see if he 'can play the same kind of chess match' at Talladega as earlier this year

The upcoming Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is a make-or-break event for the 2022 playoff drivers and Austin Dillon is certainly not underestimating the 2.66-mile-long challenge that lies ahead of him. Despite not making it into the NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 this season, the Richard Childress Racing driver has shown what he is capable of behind the wheel of a car with his recent victory at Daytona International Speedway.

After a lowly P17 finish last weekend in Texas, the 32-year-old hopes to replicate his prior success on the longest track of the season calendar as earlier in the year. Situated in Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway is known for its spectacular crashes and the element of luck that is required to win on this behemoth of a racetrack. Austin Dillon managed to find the right balance between taking calculated risks and staying out of trouble at the "Dega" in the spring of 2022 for the GEICO 500, where he finished in the runners-up spot.

The Welcome, North Carolina native spoke on how he aims to replicate, if not better, his results from last time around as the anticipation for the race builds up. He said:

“I always feel like you’ve got something when you win on a certain type of track. Obviously, there’s a lot of luck involved as well, but the important thing is that there are opportunities to make your own luck. We’ve just got to stay focused and see if we can play the same kind of chess match that we did earlier this year. Anything can happen at Talladega Superspeedway, but we’re going to do what we can to use momentum at the very end of the race to take advantage of positions.”

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Austin Dillon will have a new crew chief for 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season

The driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Richard Childress Racing, Austin Dillon, confirmed earlier this month that he will see a crew chief change come 2023. Justin Alexander, the current crew chief of the #3 team at RCR, will not continue post-2022 after two years of serving as Dillon's crew chief.

Alexander spoke about how the constant travel due to the series' schedule meant he desired a better work/life balance and said:

“It’s a tough industry to be in with the travel and the schedule we [have] and the hours we work during the week, It just boils down to me wanting to have a better work/life balance with my family. I just need to do something different.”

Watch Austin Dillon drive this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Yellawood 500, which goes live on Sunday at 2:00 pm ET on the USA Network.