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Austin Dillon has expressed his thoughts on the quad-oval Atlanta Motor Speedway track ahead of the first NASCAR Cup Series playoffs race. With its evolving reconfiguration, the 1.5-mile asphalt track has produced a superspeedway style of racing like the Daytona and Talladega Superspeedways.
Dillon is in his 11th full-time season with Richard Childress' outfit, piloting the #3 Chevy Camaro. He claimed a P6 finish in 2021 at the Georgia track.
With Atlanta returning to the Cup Series schedule, Richard Childress Racing driver Dillon talked about having a well-devised "gameplan" for the Quaker State 400 event. Atlanta was reconfigured according to the drafting aero package and the banking in the corners was increased from 24 to 28 degrees.
In a press release, the 34-year-old addressed the importance of drafting and said:
"I enjoy racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s interesting with the drafting style racing there now. Coming up with a gameplan is going to be key. When you don’t have a gameplan that you can fully commit to, you can get stuck in the middle and that usually doesn’t turn out well. The track itself is still changing."
"RCR and ECR Engines always bring fast superspeedway cars with a lot of power though, so we need to capitalize on the weekend overall," Austin Dillon added.
RCR has a notably strong record in Atlanta with a total of nine wins and four pole positions. NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt drove through the victory lane eight times for RCR.
A brief season recap of Austin Dillon and RCR's season ahead of the playoff rounds
Currently, RCR fields two full-time drivers: the #8 Chevy driver Kyle Busch and #3 Dillon in the Cup Series. Both the veteran drivers had an unfortunate season as they missed their chance to qualify for the 2024 playoff rounds.
Busch has had an underwhelming year, but showed speed in the final three races of the regular season. The two-time Cup Series champion had two runner-up finishes and one P4 finish.
On the other hand, Austin Dillon managed a win at Richmond Raceway but was stripped of his playoffs spot as the #3 driver wrecked two fellow competitors on the final lap. As a result, NASCAR docked 25 points and took away the #3 team's opportunity to compete in the championship run.
Here's a look at Richard Childress Racing's sole win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season:
