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Austin Dillon is in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his career. He has been outperformed in all aspects by his teammate, Kyle Busch, and Dillon has the worst average finish of his career to this point. It’s not been great for Dillon this year, so, what does the future hold for Dillon at RCR?
Now, we are by no means saying that Austin Dillon’s driving career is on ice, or that he will retire after 2024. However, he is in his 10th season at NASCAR’s top level, and he is 33 years old. Aric Almirola is mulling retirement, and he is 39 years old. Kevin Harvick is retiring at the end of the year at 47 years old.
Dillon is in the prime of his driving career, and he is in a car that he probably can drive as long as he wants to. Richard Childress is Dillon’s grandfather after all, and, as much as people are unwilling to admit it, Dillon has done good things behind the wheel at RCR. He has won two crown jewels in the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, and he’s made the Playoffs in five of his 10 career seasons. Not a spectacular career by any means, but it’s not a bad resume.
Now, with Kyle Busch coming in and having the success that he has had this season, is there an argument to be made that another driver could do better in Dillon’s ride? That is a very fair conversation to have, but, at the same time, will Childress really ask Dillon to step aside right now? The answer to that question is pretty easy.
Dillon will likely have this ride as long as he wants to race. That is unless some can’t-miss free agent or Xfinity Series prospect comes along late in Dillon’s career as his skills decline. Then, maybe he would be forced out, but, he may not leave RCR totally.
Like many other Cup Series drivers, Austin Dillon also has business ventures he is involved in outside of racing. He is the general manager of the Carolina Cowboys Professional Bull Riding team, and he also co-owns Team Dillon Management with his brother, Ty. This company represents the Dillon brothers alongside drivers like Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, and Parker Retzlaff.
Dillon has plenty of business interests outside of just driving the race car, so, could he get some stake in RCR as time goes on? Dillon’s father, Mike, is already the Executive Vice President at RCR, so, it’s not out of the question that Dillon gets into the business side at some point.
Could Dillon become a full-fledged team owner? Maybe he will and maybe he won’t, but it would make sense for Dillon to continue to stay with RCR because it is the family business. It’s similar to what Richard Petty Motorsports was before Legacy Motor Club was formed, the family business.
Maybe Dillon will work his way into an executive position with RCR in the future. Now, is it in the near future, not necessarily. However, he has enough business experience to where he may be able to legitimately help them in the future in ways that the general public may not see.
Then again, maybe Dillon wants to blaze his own trail after his driving days are over. Maybe he tries to go outside of racing and pursue other opportunities. Regardless, Dillon has plenty of things that he can do once his driving career is done, and that may allow him to retire sooner than some may have thought.
Austin Dillon is now hanging up his helmet anytime soon, but his future with RCR is very interesting. Even if he stops driving, he could still find a spot with the company in a unique way. Maybe he will go somewhere new. The bottom line is that Austin Dillon’s future beyond racing could go multiple different ways.
