LEBANON, Tenn. — Richard Childress Racing was forced to deal with the weight of loss 25 years ago when they lost a friend, a legend and a racer in Dale Earnhardt. A quarter century later, the team is unthinkably bearing it again with the loss of Kyle Busch.
Austin Dillon, now driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for the team owned by his grandfather, Richard Childress, has become a leader inside the walls of the team’s shop in Welcome, North Carolina, where his father, Mike Dillon, serves as the team’s chief operating officer.
Advertisement
As a trusted voice at the shop, Austin Dillon revealed Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway that he was keeping team members abreast of the unfolding situation on May 21, the day Busch died after severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis.
“My grandfather and my dad were at the hospital. I was at the shop with everybody and trying to keep them updated, and going through that was tough,” Dillon said. “And then, when I got home, I just told (wife) Whitney, look, I’ve got to write him a letter. Most of you probably have read what I wrote, and that was the biggest reason I feel like I could go forward because it was from the heart, and it’s how I felt about Kyle. And it’s gonna hurt for a long time, but I know the character he was, he’d want us to go kick butt.”
MORE: NASCAR community grieves Busch together
The team will have its next chance to compete at Nashville on Sunday, and with that chance comes a new normal the team will have to find. The No. 8 team that Busch built is now the No. 33, with Austin Hill currently driving the entry in what is at least an interim role as the team has not yet announced its long-term plans.
Advertisement
But how can a team simply carry on in the wake of tragedy just days after losing its shining star? For Dillon, the answer lies in unity and faith.
“The longer I do this, I learn what the family aspect of RCR is,” Dillon said. “I’m so proud of our people, our employees, our fans. Some of the nicest things that could be done were done over the last week and a half. The garage, NASCAR took really good care of us in Charlotte, but I mean I’m just really proud to be a part of RCR and proud of our employees for doing what they can. It was obviously one of the toughest weeks of RCR’s history. Being a part of, from my side, for the first time, really being able to understand what everybody’s going through, it was hard, and it’s going to be hard, but the people that we have at RCR are the ones that I would want to go through with this.”
In the wake of Busch’s passing, the team gathered together as some of its leaders addressed the organization. One of those voices was team president Mike Verlander, who previously served as team president of Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“Mike Verlander did an amazing job,” Dillon said. “He spoke to the entire company. It was beautiful. I mean, he did a great job. Proud to have him as our president. I mean, him and Kyle were very close. He has done a great job going through this because he was right through the thick of everything. But the way he spoke to our people, I was super proud to be a part of that and watch it. We had Nick Terry speak from [Motor Racing Outreach] to everyone, and that was very touching. And then I kind of finished it off and told a couple things and stories but brought it back to, hey, let’s go out there and do what we can to make him proud.”
Austin Hill drives the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing at Nashville.
Part of Dillon’s influence in addressing his fellow team members stemmed from a story shared by his grandfather Childress and a conversation he shared with Earnhardt decades ago.
Advertisement
“I go back to what my grandfather and Dale talked about before on the ‘Great Horse Wreck,’ is what my grandfather calls it, on their hunting trip that they would go on,” Dillon said, “whether one of them passed away or not, that they would be there racing and putting their heart and soul into it. And I think Kyle Busch, his character would have wanted all of us to do what we could to get back to Victory Lane and to work as hard as possible. And I mean, I knew what he cared about, and that was being here on Sunday, racing hard as he could for his guys and for himself and for his family, and to try and create history in this sport. And we have a great opportunity to do that here at RCR to go back out there and make him proud.”
Childress is due to speak publicly on June 6 at Michigan International Speedway for the first time since Busch’s passing, but Dillon offered some insight on how the events of the last nine days has impacted the 80-year-old team owner.
“Obviously, it’s been very hard for him,” Dillon said. “But he’s a very resilient person, as everyone knows. And he’s got that cowboy brand that he likes to show everybody, but he’s also got a soft side, and I think it’s been pretty wearing on him. He’s also had a cold, but he’s got over that, so today it was nice. We flew up here, and my daughter jumped in his lap, and I think that was just nice to see them hanging out together. And she’s never done that before, so kids just have this weird way, I think, of knowing. And you could tell they had a good time up there.”
When the green flag flies Sunday night at Nashville (7 ET, Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Dillon and Hill will be on track once again with hopes to make Busch proud, riding for the brand, Dillon said, as he rolls off 32nd and Hill 25th.
Advertisement
“We all really want to go out there and run well for him and for my grandfather and for all the RCR fans out there,” Dillon said. “There’s a lot of hard work and effort going on right now, working hard with Austin Hill and doing what we can to make everybody proud.”
