Dillon, Tight-Knit No. 3 RCR Team Seeing Benefits of Offseason Changes

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Last Saturday night, in the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team broke through in a big way by scoring their first win of what had been a trying season through the opening 24 races. With the decisive win at the 0.750-mile short track, where Dillon led a career-high 107 laps, they accomplished a few key things.

First, they proved that their controversial triumph at Richmond a season ago wasn't a fluke. The team also confirmed that a slew of offseason personnel changes within the competition department at Richard Childress Racing are starting to bear fruit.

"I think you're starting to see some benefits of the changes that we made and the guys that we brought in here," Dillon explained in an interview with Racing America at the Richard Childress Racing shop. "I think we've got a great set of races coming up for the Playoffs, so I think we can make some noise in the first round. Just really proud of the leadership that Richard Boswell has shown, Johnny Klausmeier coming over here. The guys that we've added to our team. Just really some great pieces that have put together a solid group of guys."

While Dillon, 35, and Richard Boswell, his new crew chief, got off to a bit of a rocky start this year, the pairing has begun to gel, evidenced by Dillon matching his total number of wins (1), top-fives (1), and top-10s (5) from a season ago, with 11 races left in the 2025 campaign.

As Boswell has attempted to make improvements to the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team through the opening 25 races of the season, the veteran crew chief remained cognizant that Dillon and the No. 3 bunch have shown a penchant for excelling at short tracks, and he didn't want to negatively impact the speed the team had carried into tracks under a mile in length.

"I think anytime a team has a strong suit, you tend to focus on it more, right? You don't want to lose that strength," Boswell said. "And we've worked really hard to continue to bring really good cars to these short tracks, and Austin has continued to work on his craft, and everybody is just getting better every time."

Needless to say, Boswell's approach to the short track events on the schedule has helped Dillon find even more speed on short tracks in 2025. Of their five top-10 finishes this season, three of them have come at short tracks (Bristol, Iowa, and Richmond).

While every leader has a different style and approach to get the most out of the team, Boswell prefers to learn what makes those around him tick. And he has trust that the skilled members of the team will thrive and allow the unit to accomplish its goals if he simply identifies the tools they need to perform.

"I think just being good with people, right? And understanding what they need. And I tell them all the time, I'm not their boss, they're my boss," Boswell said of his role as the crew chief on the No. 3 team. "It's my job to give them what they need to be successful. I try to do that for the guys on the shop floor, our engineers, and Austin. And Austin does the same thing; he's a pretty darn good leader himself."

Boswell isn't the only person within the No. 3 team that holds Dillon, the driver, in high-regard. The team's tire carrier Paul Swan says what sets Dillon apart from the pack of drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series is that he truly cares about those within the team, and he makes every effort to spend quality time with the individuals that he entrusts to help him succeed on the track.

"I think with Austin, he's different than every driver in the sport, where he really has a personal relationship with everyone on the team," Swan explained. "And when we're hanging out outside the track, we do a lot of stuff together -- play basketball. He comes up here, and we BS with each other all the time, we play fantasy football, we go hunting together. I mean, there are all sorts of things that we all do together. He really makes it a priority to be close with everybody on this team. So, I think that's super different than pretty much every driver on pit road and in the sport. He makes it a lot of fun to work for him."

The rapport and camaraderie within the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team was already high between the driver, his pit crew, and those working within the shop, but Swan says the leadership of Boswell has given the close team the edge that they need.

"...Richard Boswell, our crew chief, this is his first year with us. I think he is an absolutely awesome leader," Swan stated. "He has done a phenomenal job this season, and I think he really brings everybody together. Road crew, pit crew, engineers, everybody is really tight-knit on this team. So, that's a huge thing."

While Dillon, 35, has previously scored wins in the crown jewel Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, he calls his latest win the favorite of his career.

"It was special. Obviously, all of the emotions we had going through last year. To come back, and to put a performance together -- the guys executed so perfectly. And it was just a great race, and memories I'll never forget. It's my favorite win of my career," Dillon said.

The redemption of last year's win, from which NASCAR stripped the Playoff eligibility from Dillon due to incidents on the last lap, was undoubtedly something that made the victory special. That's only a fraction of what made Saturday's win at Richmond so important for the racer. Being able to celebrate with his family, including his grandfather, Richard Childress, and brother, Ty Dillon, put this win over the top.

"I texted Ty afterwards, and said, 'You don't know how much that hug meant to me.' I mean, it was really cool getting to celebrate with my kids, and Ty's kids came to victory lane, and Haley and Ty, and my wife was so excited. Just having the whole family there. It was really cool," Dillon remarked. "I think everybody knew all the emotions that I had going through the processes of not being in the Playoffs last year with that win. To come back this year and do what we did it's a heck of a feat. You know, it's hard to win anywhere in the NASCAR Cup Series, but Richmond is one of the toughest tracks, and to go back-to-back, it feels really good."

With a victory in his back pocket, and a Playoff berth secured, Dillon, Boswell and the entire No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team will, now prepare to parlay the Richmond win into a surprising deep run in the Playoffs.