NASCAR: Austin Dillon looking to turn winless year around at Pocono

Austin Dillon can’t stop hitting bumps in the road. Literally.

The 2018 Daytona 500 champion, who sits 22nd in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings entering the Gander RV 400 on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, has been struggling merely to finish races because he can’t stop getting into wrecks, whether he’s responsible for them or not.

“We just haven’t had the finishes this year because I’ve had so many crashes,” Dillon said. "More crashes than I’ve ever had in my Cup career in just one year.”

While disappointed with the way he’s raced so far, Dillon remains unfazed. It’s not as if he has had any crashes this year like the one at the 2015 Coke Zero 400, when his car was lifted into the catch fence on the final lap, injuring five fans. In fact, he’s still managed to collect six top-10 finishes, albeit without a single victory.

If anything, he’s just looking for a bit of good fortune to turn the season around at Pocono, where Dillon feels confident, even if he’s never managed to get a win there.

“It’s been a really good track for us actually in the past," he said. “We haven’t gotten the finishes that we’d like, but I’ve always qualified, I feel like, top-12.”

Dillon, who represents Richard Childress Racing, was at the Pocono 400 to kick off the Cup Series’ June schedule, and despite finishing 37th, he felt positive about his performance.

“We had some good races last time we were there,” he said. "This year, I got turned around early in the race with a really good racecar, and I’m pumped to go back there. I know it’s one of those places where I know we can show some speed and run well at.”

Although his confidence hasn’t wavered, Dillon does think a sniff of success could give his team a greater competitive edge.

“We’re just looking for a win to get ourselves into the playoffs. Points are really kind of out of the question at this point," he said. “So, a big win would push us into a place where we feel like, obviously, we could compete and get into the playoffs.”

The playoffs look unlikely not only because of Dillon’s precarious point situation, but also because of Pocono’s especially difficult track layout. Sunday’s Gander RV 400 will give drivers a second look at the unique, three-corner design. Each turn is different, and the track requires versatility from its drivers to round each distinct bend effectively.

In Dillon’s case, he’s never felt as though he’s been sufficiently prepared to put it all together at Pocono.

“I’ve had good cars at turn three and good cars at turn one. I’ve never really had the car that I felt like we could have the greatest balance between all three,” he said.

He’s never before been able to conquer The Tricky Triangle, and he’s in the middle of a particularly rough stretch: He’s ended his last three races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Daytona International Speedway in 32nd, 35th and 33rd place, respectively. What, then, makes him think Sunday will be any different?

Dillon claims that his speed — the same thing he said cars had too much of back at Daytona in 2015 — will be key to his success, even though he does blame some of his wrecks this year on driving too aggressively.

“I’ve had more speed this year than I’ve had in a lot of years when I’ve made the playoffs and run better than what we’ve run, so yeah, I’m confident that we can still make good changes and put ourselves in the playoffs,” he said.