I wasn't too happy when he lost his cool on the radio, but Labbe was able to calm him down and get him focused back on the race, and i think that's the best thing he's done for him since he took over as CC. I can't figure out why he got screwed up on the pit stop or who screwed him up. I'll be interested to see how he does at Phoenix since he has been awful at short tracks for the most part in the Cup Series.
Gamble Pays Off For Austin Dillon In Las Vegas
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By Chris Knight
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A slow pit stop and a untimely speeding penalty attempted to thwart Austin Dillon from a strong finish in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, but in Sin City, gambling can prove to be beneficial.
And even though Dillon didn’t hit the jackpot on Sunday, his fifth place finish, the third top-five performance of his Sprint Cup career might have felt like one, keeping his early season success alive.
“Just never giving up,” explained Dillon. “It takes a lot of effort and these guys built such a fast race car I did all I could there to get ourselves back into a position to get back on the lead lap. The caution fell perfect for us. We took a gusty call there to take the wave around and get back on the lead lap to see if the caution would come out. It did right in our window.
“Things fell our way there for sure. What a fast race car we were running some lap times faster than the leader at one point in the middle of the race when we were laps down that we were really proud of. I wish the wind wouldn’t have been so bad today. I think it would have been an even better day for us. Just proud of the Dow / Intellifresh team we have something to work with. I think you will see us in Victory Lane before the season is over.”
To some though, it wasn’t a surprise to see the No. 3 Dow Energy & Water / Intellifresh Chevrolet as competitive as it was.
A fifth place qualifying effort Friday afternoon backed by strong results in practice gave an early indication that Dillon could be a factor in the third Cup race of the season, but a bad pit stop followed by an untimely speeding penalty took the 2013 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion from a comfortable spot inside the top-10 to outside the top-20.
The defying moment came when crew chief Slugger Labbe elected to keep his driver on track on Lap 217, gambling on older tires and hoping for the best — it was the best choice for them to regain all the track position they lost earlier. The gamble could have came with a bust, however, as two tires proved to be beneficial for a few laps, before competitors dropped like an anchor.
With a fast car though, Dillon persevered thanks to a few cautions and even withstood a late race challenge from Ryan Blaney late in the race to finish fifth, his first top-five since a fourth at Michigan International Speedway last summer.
“We killed ourselves today,” sounded Dillon. “To come back to a fifth, I’m blessed and the good Lord was looking out for us. The cautions fell right. We really have to pick it up as a group, me included, on pit road.
“It was disappointing because we had such a fast race car. At one point in time we were way faster than the leader. We just put ourselves behind. But, we had a shot there at the end and if we were good enough to win we would have done it. We have a little more work to do. I think a win is in the future though.”
Three races in, Dillon has yet to finish worse than 11th which has propelled him to 10th in the championship standings heading to Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway next weekend, where Dillon’s best run in four starts is 15th last March.
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Austin Dillon predicts win soon for No. 3 team after Vegas wager
By Joe Menzer
Austin Dillon overcame a pit stop gone bad where he chastised his pit crew over the team radio and then a pit-road speeding penalty that was his own fault to finish fifth in Sunday's Kobalt 400 at windy Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
After the pit-road speeding penalty, Dillon was two laps down to the leaders at one point.
But he knew his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was fast, and his crew chief, Slugger Labbe, elected to gamble and stay out on the track on a late caution when most of the rest of the field pitted.
The bet ultimately paid off. It enabled Dillon to gain back valuable track position, and he was third behind only Kyle Busch and Joey Logano on a restart with 35 laps to go. From there he held on for the impressive finish.
Asked how he came back to register the first top-five finish of this young season and only the third of his 88-race Sprint Cup career, Dillon told FOX Sports: "Just never giving up. It takes a lot of effort. These guys built such a fast racecar. "
He also credited his crew chief for making the right call.
"I did all I could there to get ourselves back in a position to get back on the lead lap," Dillon said. "The caution fell perfect for us. It took a gutsy call there (by Labbe) to take the wave-around to get back on the lead lap, to see if the caution would come out. It did right in our window, so things fell our way there for sure.
"But what a fast racecar. We were running some lap times faster than the leader in the middle of the race when we were laps down. That's something we're really proud of."
Dillon is off to a fine start to his 2016 season. He finished ninth in the season-opening Daytona 500 and was a respectable 11th in the second race of the year at Atlanta.
His fifth-place finish Sunday was his best since he finished fourth at Michigan in mid-August of last year. But he thought it could have been better if he hadn't been forced to deal with wind gusts of up to 43 miles per hour -- and made a bold prediction for the future of his No. 3 RCR Chevy team.
"I wish the wind wouldn't have been so bad today or it might have been an even better day for us," he said. "I'm just proud of the Dow and Intellifresh (sponsored) team. I think you'll see us in Victory Lane before the season is over."
Austin Dillon predicts win soon for No. 3 team after Vegas wager pays off
