It’s no secret that Austin Dillon, being the grandchild of Richard Childress, gets his fair share of criticism from NASCAR fans. Some of it is due to ‘nepotism’ and him getting an unfair advantage of driving for Richard Childress Racing. Others simply have an issue with him driving the iconic #3 car of NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt Jr, believing he can’t fill those shoes, with some claiming that he has always been on the receiving end of the slack. 

However, his debut to NASCAR wasn’t bad and while he is not a stellar driver, his performances were always good enough. But things have changed since 2023 and he is facing a slump like never before. But what exactly is plaguing Dillion’s performance?

Austin Dillon may not be NASCAR ace, but he is not a slouch either

Dillon couldn’t fill the legendary shoes of Dale Earnhardt, but he did perform his best. He finished 20th in points in his rookie season [2014] and has frequently made it to the playoffs. In fact, before 2023, he never finished worse than 21st in points. Last year, he plummeted to 29th, but now, he is languishing at 31st. And this downfall is alarming!

At this point the previous year, he had three top 10 finishes and a top 5, but he has broken into the top 20 just twice in 2024. But why this downfall?

Well, one key thing that changed for Dillon is getting a new crew chief, Keith Rodden. He had taken the role since the beginning of the 2023 season and somehow the Rodden-Dillon pairing didn’t sit well. Dillon’s performance recently has been his career-worst! The team took notice and decided to go for a crew chief change for the No.3 Chevrolet. Keith Rodden has now moved to a leadership role within RCR, and Justin Alexander has taken Rodden’s place.

Andy Petree, executive vice president for RCR, addressed the change with a statement. As per Yahoo Sports, he said, “The organizational changes were made to help Richard Childress Racing’s overall NASCAR Cup Series program as we prepare for the rest of the season and locking two teams into the NASCAR Playoffs. Justin Alexander and Austin Dillon share a unique chemistry that has proven effective in the past. We want to thank Keith Rodden for his leadership of the No. 3 team and know that the contributions he will continue to make to RCR in his new role will be valuable across the organization.” 

Alexander had previously been at the same post and led Dillon to all four of his cup series victories—making him the perfect choice to carry the team forward. Moreover, Dillon seems content with this change. He said, “I think it’s a big morale boost for our team, like I said, and to get Justin back on board with traveling and going to the race track, you know, that was the biggest thing.”

Even the NASCAR fans seemed to have taken notice of how Dillon’s performance took a sharp turn after Keith Rodden joined the team. And in a surprise turn of events, fans sided with Dillon.

Fans Rally behind Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon amid his struggles

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Fans have mostly spoken not in favor of the No.3 driver, but a recent Reddit post showed a change in sentiment. The post highlighted the dire condition of the driver and fans were quick to pin the issue on his former crew chief, Keith Rodden.

One user said that while Dillon is a true mid-racer, he had been good enough to hang around the playoff bubble constantly. He said, “He’s basically “19th place: the driver”. But he also added why he thinks he has declined to such a position. He said, “I’m still convinced it’s mostly Keith Rodden — the timing lines up. Dillon has Alexander back on the box now, but it’ll take more than a few weeks to right a sinking ship. And they can’t lean on the #8 team much because 2-time champ KFB is stuck in 23rd every other week.”

Another user stood up for Dillon, saying he is not nearly as bad as people believe him to be, and that in 2022 he spent most of the season around Reddick in points and even had a better average finish than him. Then he gave out a statement that echoed the same as the previous user. He said, “But his insane decline does line up with losing Justin Alexander and getting Keith Rodden as his crew chief (who I genuinely believe is the worst CC in modern era history) He got Alexander back but it’s gonna take a few weeks at least to clean up the fucking mess Keith left behind.”

Another fan just said, “Keith. Rodden.” and while his words might be less, it did say a thousand words. 

While some blame solely the previous crew chief, some think that the entire team is facing a downfall. One fan said, “I think it is a mix of him not transitioning to the Next-Gen car, but also the decline of RCR overall.”

Another couldn’t help but bring in the same nepotism pitch saying “RCR is falling behind and it’s making the nepotism that got Austin Dillion his ride in the first place all the more egregious.” Another even asserted that RCR is “hot garbage.” The entire team seems to be facing a backlash from the fans on social media platforms. Some even called the team irrelevant.

But now, with new changes taking place, hopefully, the Richard Childress Racing team will catch the rhythm and dance to the tunes of victory. What do you think? Will this change bring anything good to Dillon and the team?