Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Deer Season XP® Chevrolet at Richmond Raceway… Austin Dillon enters this weekend’s Cook Out 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway as the defending race winner, having posted a dominating performance in the 2024 event to clinch his fifth Cup Series win and first at the Virginia short track. Dillon, who has made 21 total starts in Cup Series competition at Richmond, owns two top-five and seven top-10 finishes at the track, with 91 laps led. The North Carolina native has 10 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Richmond Raceway, acquiring two top-five finishes, seven top-10 finishes, and one pole award. Memorable Moments… Dillon’s career-first Xfinity Series start came at Richmond Raceway in 2008 driving the No. 21 Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma Chevrolet for RCR with crew chief Shane Wilson calling the shots. Dillon, who finished 26th in the race, went on to earn an Xfinity Series championship for the storied organization in 2012. About Bass Pro Shops… Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations, and more. In 2017, Bass Pro Shops united with Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations, and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with RCR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit basspro.com. Winchester Deer Season XP®… Winchester Deer Season XP® is celebrating 10 years as the most accurate and lethal bullet for deer hunting. For a decade, Deer Season XP® has been the choice of deer hunters looking to fill their tags. Deer hunters everywhere rely on the Extreme Point® bullet’s oversized impact diameter. The larger impact diameter means more impact trauma, better energy transfer, and larger wound cavities for faster knockdown. Until November 30, 2025, earn $5 per box when you purchase Deer Season XP®. Learn more here. Meet Dillon… Dillon is scheduled to make several public-facing appearances this weekend, beginning with a stop at Bass Pro Shops (111550 Lakeridge Pkwy, Ashland, VA 23005) on Friday, August 15 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET for an autograph session with fans. The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet is also scheduled to sign autographs at the RCR Merchandise Hauler in the Richmond Raceway Fan Midway on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. ET. Stop by to meet the defending Richmond Raceway race winner and get new RCR gear. AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES: You and your teammate, Kyle Busch, had fast cars at Richmond Raceway last year. What do you think you have for them going back to Richmond? “I’m pumped to get to Richmond Raceway. I’ve been excited about that one all year. I just want to get there and see if we can be as successful as last year. We had a two second lead with however many laps remaining in the race, drove past Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano, and the car was just really solid. Unfortunately, an untimely caution put us in a difficult position. We worked a little bit this week in the simulator just to see how it correlated, and I thought it correlated very well. We will go there and give it our best shot. We feel like it could be a good opportunity to put us into the NASCAR Playoffs with just two races remaining until the cutoff.” Is there a damper when you look back at Richmond Raceway knowing that you were penalized? “It was still a big day and I’ll always remember it as one of my favorite wins. We got the trophy, just not the NASCAR Playoffs spot. That part was a struggle, and I hate it for RCR, but this year going back I definitely want to go out there and try to win again, but this time lock ourselves into the Playoffs. We had a dominant car last year and really came on strong at the end. We had a multiple-second lead and passed two of the best to do it, so that’s pretty cool.” Have some of your recent performances, particularly strong runs at Iowa Speedway and Watkins Glen International, given you confidence heading back into the site of your most recent win? “I’m really excited about Richmond Raceway. That is a good track for the No. 3 team. Iowa Speedway was a good chance for us to get to run around some of the guys at the front, and make decisions, and have a pit crew making competitive stops around the front because when we get to Richmond, I feel like we should be able to compete in the top five and have another shot to win.” What contributed to your strong finish at Iowa Speedway, a track that shares similar characteristics to Richmond Raceway, that you can translate to this Richmond? “As a team, we did a really good job prepping for that race from a simulation standpoint. I think when we have really good SIM weeks, we run better at the track. Some days I can tell you ‘oh I don’t know,’ because it didn’t feel good at the SIM – it just didn’t feel realistic, or the things we were doing don’t correlate to at-track so you have to go back to history. That was probably the biggest thing – a good SIM session. We were good there the year before as well, we just didn’t get to show it. We were the first car out and it was super hard to pass. We actually ran the second or third-fastest lap of the race last year, so we had a base line that we could work off of, just like we have for Richmond Raceway this year.” You’ve won at both of the last two races left in the regular season. What would it mean for the way the season has gone to get a victory and lock yourself into the NASCAR Playoffs? “It’s nice that Richmond Raceway and Daytona International Speedway are the two tracks that we have left. I’m pretty confident at both of them. We’re going to give it our all and try to build momentum and keep building it. Truthfully, we want to win to get into the NASCAR Playoffs, but also we need to move ourselves into a better place in the point standings because we’ve had a lot of unfortunate events go on that kept moving us down in the point standings. We want to be a top-20 team no matter what, so we have to work our way to the front with the remaining races.” | 
In 193 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond Raceway, Richard Childress Racing has scored 10 wins, led by Dale Earnhardt’s five victories (1985 – spring, both races in 1987, 1990 – fall, and 1991 – spring). Kevin Harvick won three times (2006 – fall, 2011 – fall, and 2013 – spring), while Clint Bowyer scored his first short track victory in the Cup Series at the Virginia facility (2008 – spring). Austin Dillon pulled off a dominating performance one year ago to claim his first Richmond win and fifth career victory in the Cup Series. Teammate Kyle Busch, a six-time Richmond winner, finished 12th. The team owns 40 top-five and 77 top-10 finishes in Cup Series competition at the .75-mile oval.
