"It's validation to yourself that you’re ‘one of the guys'" - Austin Dillon on making it to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon secured his playoff spot with an impressive win during last week’s regular-season finale race at Daytona International Speedway. The #3 Chevrolet driver had the last chance of the season to win their way into the 16-driver playoff field and he did just the right thing in a weather-affected race to secure the win.

Ahead of the first playoff race at Darlington Raceway, Dillon has come out expressing his thoughts on how he is feeling after making it into the NASCAR playoffs. The 32-year-old stated that every time he makes it into the playoffs, it's proof to himself that he is one of the best drivers of the season.

Dillon said:

“I think every time you make the playoffs it’s validation to yourself that you’re ‘one of the guys.’ You know what I mean? I think somebody said we’ve made (the playoffs) five times now. I don’t know how many years I’ve been doing this, but every time you’re not in it, it doesn’t feel good. You’re not going to the banquet at the end of the year. You feel like you let your guys down, you let your company down.”

The Welcome, North Carolina-born driver went through a very disappointing season before winning last week’s Daytona race. He, however, has been competitive in a few races as he has four top five finishes, including two runner-up finishes at Auto Club Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

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Austin Dillon talks about what makes 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season so competitive

With the introduction of Next Gen cars, NASCAR has seen a greater number of different winners in the regular season since the playoff format was introduced in 2004.

Austin Dillon believes that the debut of the Next Gen car has produced competitiveness this season, producing 15 different winners in the first 26 races. He also feels that there are no motorsports racing series in the world right now that are as competitive as NASCAR Cup Series.

Dillon said:

“Fifteen winners or 16? That’s a testament to this car and Next Gen and how competitive the field is. I don’t think there’s any other form of motorsport that has this type of competitiveness week-in and week-out.”

Catch Austin Dillon at Darlington Raceway for the first playoff race of the season on Sunday, September 3 at 6:00 pm ET.