"He earned this": NASCAR Insider applauds Austin Dillon for fairytale Richmond win 

Following Austin Dillon securing his first win of the season, NASCAR Insider Jordan Bianchi expressed his appreciation for the RCR driver. On The Teardown podcast, Bianchi commended Dillon for rewriting the Richmond tragedy of last season into a statement win this season.

In 2024, Austin Dillon ended up winning the race at Richmond and booked his spot in the playoffs. However, NASCAR later took away his playoff eligibility because of an on-track incident and the manner in which the win came. This was a major controversy at that moment and a huge storyline heading into this year's race at Richmond.

But Dillon, much in the same fashion as last season, minus the on-track controversy, ended up winning the race again in a fairy tale manner, this time booking his playoff spot for good. Speaking about this, Bianchi said:

"I would wonder if Austin Dillon was being honest with himself in his wildest dreams, he envisioned coming back to Richmond a year later, winning in the manner he did. I don't think he would. As much as you think you can do and you want to do it, I don't think that was realistic. I mean, this team has largely been invisible for much of the year. They have come on as of late and they've ran better. They haven't been world beaters by any means, but then you look at the numbers he earned this," Bianchi described. [6:40]

He mentioned that Austin Dillon has led more laps than Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, and Ross Chastain this year. Bianchi claimed that people would be angry and blame the playoff format and all that, but at Richmond, Dillon was the deserving winner.

The show's co-host highlighted Austin Dillon claiming his Richmond win of 2025 is his best win, over the Daytona 500 and Coke 600.

Austin Dillon touched on how badly he wanted to win a race after 2024 Richmond controversy

Until Richmond, Austin Dillon had an average campaign in 2025. He had no finishes inside the top 5 and only four finishes inside the top 10. In fact, his best result of the season was a seventh-place finish at Texas.

But after his win at Richmond, Austin Dillon claimed it "feels good." In a post-race interview, he thanked God and emphasized how much he needed the win, considering last year's events at the same racetrack.

"Last year, hurt really bad. Just going through the whole process of it. But this one feels so sweet. Man, I love Richmond. I was thrown down a lot this week. Didn’t feel great. I’m actually racing with a broken rib right now for the last two weeks, and man, that was awesome. God has timing, and his timing is the best timing," Dillon said.

He mentioned how important this win is for his family and his grandfather, and his boss Richard Childress. Dillon claimed Childress could've replaced him in the #3 car because of "ups and downs," and he didn't. So now that he has a win, he feels "really darn good."

The #3 driver claimed that while it takes time for him to get up to speed on tracks with high grip, once the race becomes about taking care of 'your stuff', he can compete against the best on the field.