Austin Dillon, a struggling NASCAR driver, has been hit with more bad news regarding his crew. The 2024 NASCAR Cup Season has been a nightmare for Dillon, who was hoping to improve upon his poor performance from last season. In the nine races held so far this year, Dillon has only managed to secure one top-10 finish. With the exception of a 16th place finish at Las Vegas, all of his other finishes have been outside the top-20.
Last Sunday, Dillon achieved his best finish of the season, coming in 7th place at the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. The Richard Childress Racing (RCR) team was motivated by this result, as it ended a ten-race streak of non top-10 finishes for Dillon. However, the team’s positivity was short-lived, as NASCAR has now suspended a crew member from the No. 3 Chevy team.
NASCAR announced on Wednesday that a jackman from the No. 3 team has been suspended indefinitely for violating the sport’s substance abuse policy. This is a disappointing turn of events for the crew member, who previously played football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
In addition to the No. 3 team, two crew members from another team have also been given a two-race suspension. This is due to the rear tire of the 2021 Cup champion’s car coming loose after leaving the pits. The jackman and rear tire changer will have to sit out the Talladega race as well as the following cup race.
Recently, a new crew chief took over the Richard Childress No. 3 team after the previous crew chief failed to improve Dillon’s performance. The new crew chief, Alexander, expressed confidence in the team’s hard work and his familiarity with Dillon, stating that they will slowly and steadily climb their way to the top.
The suspension of the jackman may not impact Alexander’s plans, as the crew member has not been involved in pit-stops since Martinsville. However, this disappointing news is not what the RCR team needed during this challenging phase of their season.