Austin Dillon Won Richmond With A Broken Rib, But Says He Cowboyed Up Through The Pain

By Gary Gastelu |

Aug 18, 2025

Austin Dillon at Richmond — Credit: NASCAR via Getty Images

Austin Dillon made it look easy in the closing laps of his win at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night, but he had to tough it out to make the race at all.

Dillon revealed after the race, which clinched him a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs, that he’d been racing with a broken rib for several weeks.

“I don’t like to talk about it, but I fell off a ladder pulling my bow case off getting ready for hunting season,” the Richard Childress Racing driver said during his post-race press conference.

“Fell on top of the bow case. It knocked the breath out of me. Knew it was pretty bad. Went ahead and raced Iowa. I got it x-rayed. Seventh one on my right is broken. I’ve been racing with it. It’s been pretty painful. I raced Watkins Glen, Iowa, then here. Should be good. It’s made pretty big improvements over the last two weeks.”

All three tracks involve heavy braking, which puts pressure on a driver’s chest. Dillon credits time spent with the guys from the Carolina Cowboys Professional Bull Riders team that is co-owned by Richard Childress Racing, where he is the general manager, with toughing it out.

“I love working with them. I’ve learned a lot about people in general. Those guys are one tough customer, all those Cowboys. I think it makes me tougher. If I would have complained about my rib before now, the Cowboys would have been like, That’s nothing. Get over it. Move on,” Dillon said.

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He might not have as much trouble with it in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 regular season finale at Daytona this weekend where it’s all throttle, except when pulling into the pits or getting caught up in a wreck.

Dillon won the race in 2022 and also the 2018 Daytona 500, but while he’d like to pick up another trophy for himself, he’s ready to put his superspeedway skills toward getting his teammate, Kyle Busch into the playoffs with him.

“We have to help our guy out in the 8, try to support him as much as we can, get another RCR teammate in there. He’s really good at Daytona. Do what I can. Maybe try to get us bonus points, stages and stuff. Focus probably goes to the 8 now,” Dillon said.

Busch is winless for the second season in a row and too far out of the points to make it to the playoffs without a win. His one win at Daytona came in the 2008 Coke Zero Sugar 400.