NASCAR: Five most overhyped Cup Series drivers

#5 – Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet

Austin Dillon, who is one of Richard Childress Racing team owner Richard Childress’ grandsons, began driving full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in the 2014 season for, you guessed it, Richard Childress Racing at age 24.

Of course, people were quick to attribute that to the fact that Richard Childress is his grandfather, which makes sense seeing as how many drivers in racing get their starts in large part due to who their fathers and grandfathers are. However, by winning the 2013 Nationwide (now Xfinity) Series championship, Dillon proved that he deserved a shot.

But that shot came in the iconic #3 car, which Richard Childress Racing brought back for his grandson to use in 2014. It was the first time that the car number had been used since the legendary Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash at the 2001 Daytona 500 in the #3 car he had driven for much of his Hall of Fame career. Was Austin Dillon of all drivers really deserving of that number?

After three full seasons of hype with Dillon in the #3 car, he had totaled 0 wins. It took him until his fourth full season of Cup Series competition to finally break through for his first career win, and that came as a result of a fuel mileage gamble. The win came at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 in his 133rd career race.

But when he did so, he did so by putting the #3 back in Victory Lane for the first time since Dale Earnhardt won at Talladega in 2000, which caused much of the hype that had left him over the years to come back. In fact, this may have even caused more of a buzz than him getting a ride in the #3 car to begin with.

However, in the 10 races that followed that, he finished no higher than 13th place, and he has just two finishes higher than 13th place in the 18 races since that win, which just goes to show that he is, indeed, a bit overhyped.