The Night Austin Dillon Drove like Dale Earnhardt

This week, Austin Dillon showed everyone how good he is at the “Lady in Black.”Running in the top 10 in the 1st half of the race. Only for a bad pit stop to put him in the mid-pack, where he stayed for the rest of the race. However, for some, his early form and the finish to the 2025 race evoked flashbacks to 2020.

Heading into the 2020 Southern 500

Dillon qualified 12th for the South Carolina crown jewel race.  It was the opening race of the playoffs, with Dillon clenching his way in through his Texas win, having his best season in terms of average finish since 2016. Many doubted him, however, not even predicting he’d get out of the 1st round.

So, a great performance here was important for him for many reasons to have a great race. To prove those who doubt him wrong and get to the next round. But he couldn’t ask for a much better track to do so. With Austin Dillon having 2 top 10s in the last 10 races, he raced there before the 2020 Southern 500.

Austin Dillon’s Down-to-Up Day

He averaged a position of 13th for the race, but was 7th by mid-race, and as low as 34th during the race. Because he had issues before the start of the race, which necessitated some unapproved adjustments, he had to start at the back of the field. But whatever those issues were, he didn’t wait to overcome them, as he was up to 30th on lap 6, even with non-playoff driver Ryan Preece cutting him no slack and using his signature grit to defend him well.

He did eventually get by him and really got by everyone multiple times, most likely because Austin Dillon had the 3rd most green flag passes out of anyone, having a total of 116 at Darlington on that day. Using that determination and confidence in himself and his team, he slowly but surely climbed through the field. Austin Dillon didn’t even earn stage points for the 1st stage but did finish 8th in the 2nd stage, which earned him 3 stage points. Although his progress initially stalled when he got up, everything changed!

The Crucial Final Laps

MTJ won both stages in what was a very familiar story for most NASCAR fans: the Bass Pro Shops Toyota dominated the race again. But on lap 306, he lost that lead, but much like his other Bass Pro Shops counterpart, Austin Dillon, he wasn’t quitting and made his way back up front only to find pole sitter Chase Elliott back in 1st.

Perhaps out of impatience and even a little bit of frustration, he made an aggressive move to get back the lead. It was too aggressive and ended up wrecking both of them and destroying their chances to win. This gifted the lead to Kevin Harvick, who was impossible to beat in 2020. The former champion had a career year and went on to win 9 total races that season.

Didn’t scare Austin Dillon, who gave it everything to give himself a chance to get his 2nd win of the year and clinch a spot in the next round with a victory. He had cut the gap to half a second with 2 to go, but that was still too far to even get close to trying to get 1st if it wasn’t for a rare opportunity. The lap car of Poole was holding up the top lane, forcing Harvick to go to the bottom and lose time.

Final Thoughts

So Austin Dillon, sensing his chance, gave it everything he had in 3 and 4, going full throttle and getting right by the 4 of Harvick. Almost spun as he made an impressive save to correct his car and avoid wrecking, paralleling the finish at the same race five years later. But like his ex-teammate Reddick in 2025, he came across the line 2nd and became another runner-up to Harvick in 2020. He left Darlington eighth in points, though, and did move on to the second round in the playoffs, with his gritty drive at Darlington being the main reason. Thanks a bunch for reading!