RICHMOND, Va. -- Austin Dillon does not win every season, but he and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing team are becoming increasingly clutch in the Gen 7 era.
When the pressure is on at the Cup Series regular-season, they seem to rise to the occasion and deliver a stunning win. At least, this has been the case three times since 2022, twice in consecutive seasons at Richmond Raceway.
"I guess we're just built that way," Dillon said in response to a question from AltDriver late Saturday night. "You're never out of the fight kind of deal."
The 2022 regular-season finale at Daytona is the first prominent example. Dillon avoided a massive crash due to rain, and he put himself near the front of the pack by navigating through the wreckage. Once the rain departed the Florida track, he went out and took the win from Austin Cindric.
Last season at Richmond, he had the race-winning car in the closing laps. This had not been the case all season, but the No. 3 team showed up ready to go at one of Dillon's best tracks. They went out and built up a lead of more than three seconds over the field in the closing laps and then ultimately won in overtime after a late caution.
NASCAR took away Dillon's postseason eligibility after he turned both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the race's final lap, but that controversy overshadowed what had been a clutch performance by the No. 3 team.
This season's race at Richmond served as the latest example. Dillon and his team returned to the site of the controversial win, and they turned in a career performance. This time, they went out and won cleanly.
The veteran driver led a career-high 107 laps -- the most laps the No. 3 has led since the 1998 Daytona 500 -- and he scored 14 stage points. He raced door-to-door with Ryan Blaney multiple times in the final stage, and he came out ahead when it mattered.
AUSTIN DILLON WINS IN RICHMOND! pic.twitter.com/FpEjscqui8
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) August 17, 2025
The pit crew also delivered on a night when the No. 23, No. 11, No. 10, No. 20, and No. 77 teams all struggled. The No. 3 team avoided mistakes when it mattered most while averaging 10.224 seconds on their final five stops.
"The pit crew guys I have, they're dogs," Dillon said. "They stuck with me through thick and thin when they probably had the opportunity to go to other teams and be more successful. They stuck with me.
"I think we just have a bond that means a lot. ... If you ask them, they struggled the first couple pit stops. I didn't notice it. I couldn't figure out why we lost track position the one time. Then they got it together and were clutch when it mattered."
This race served as the most complete of Dillon's six Cup Series wins, which include two crown jewels. It showed once again that he and the No. 3 team could break out a clutch performance and lock up a spot in the playoffs.
It also served as a statement to the racing world and the doubters.
"Anybody that says he doesn't deserve to be at this level, look at the 30 or 40 laps he raced side by side with Ryan Blaney -- he won a Cup championship," crew chief Richard Boswell said after the race.
"He raced door-to-door with a Cup champion. He beat him at the end. Yeah, we need to run better. We need to be more consistent, and we need to run better. But anybody that says he just can't do it is not looking at the facts."