FORT WORTH, TEXAS – JULY 19: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, 2020 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Dillon Wins at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday, July 19th, leading a one-two finish for Richard Childress Racing.
Austin Dillon held a hard-charging field off three times on restarts in the closing laps to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2020 season in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was a one-two finish for the Richard Childress Racing team with Dillon’s rookie teammate Tyler Reddick finishing a mere 0.149-seconds behind.
HOMESTEAD, FLORIDA – JUNE 14: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on June 14, 2020 in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
NASCAR Cup Series Expectations Check: One-third of the way into the 2020 season is time to do a check on the drivers and whether they’re meeting expectations to this point of a unique year.
As crazy as the 2020 season has been, normalcy is gradually returning to NASCAR. Eight races have been run since the ten-week-long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the season to its one-third completion mark. Drivers needed an adjustment period to the post-pandemic era of the sport; no practice, no qualifying, no fans, two races in one weekend, the list goes on and on. As the races continue to roll on by, these adjustments have allowed some drivers to surprise, and caused others to disappoint. With the season at a bit of a junction heading into Talladega, here’s a quick look at which drivers are exceeding expectations, and which drivers are flopping.
Race number two for the NASCAR Cup Series is in the books, and winner number two of the season has been crowned, with Joey Logano emerging victorious over Matt DiBenedetto, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Austin Dillon at Las Vegas. The 1.5-mile track provided many moments of exciting racing, interesting race strategies (that eventually paid off), and some four, five, even six-wide racing. There were some clear winners and losers from this weekend’s race, and here are some of those headliners.
Austin Dillon Pilots New Car During Two-Day Test at Richmond Raceway
Following more than two years of development from concept to reality, NASCAR’s Next Gen car hit the track for the first time for a two-day test at Richmond Raceway.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – JULY 07: Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 American Ethanol Chevrolet, races Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 07, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Contact between the Ford of Clint Bowyer and the Chevrolet of Austin Dillon ignited major fireworks in NASCAR’s last trip to Daytona on the Fourth of July weekend.
