Austin Dillon looking for "more opportunities to win" this season

But he’s still looking for more.

And Dillon, the 27-year-old grandson of longtime NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, believes the Richard Childress Racing organization laid a solid foundation last season from which to build on.

“I think you need to see us consistently running in the top-five and top-10 more often. We hovered from about eighth to 14th all year long,” Dillon said during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour.

“I felt like we were able to win a race last year, but to be able to have shots to win races consistently, we need to move that little group of cars forward. When you’re running from the fourth to the eighth position, you have a lot more opportunities to win.”

RCR is a slimmer and leaner organization this season, dropping from three to two full-time entries in the Cup Series.

Driver Paul Menard left for the Wood Brothers organization but Ryan Newman will return as Dillon’s teammate at RCR. Richard Petty Motorsports did move its home to the RCR campus and will have a technical alliance with the organization.

“That was something I was really excited about in the off-season, when we decided going to a little bit smaller organization,” Dillon said. “We did add the Petty organization to the group, so that was a good hit to bring in another driver.

“That’s what I was most excited about – to have another driver to look and see what he does with the throttle pedal and the brake. So bringing a little bit of different perspective into the group is good for me as a driver, so I can learn more.”

Dillon said he doesn’t see any drawbacks to a smaller organization.

“I see a lot of two-car teams being successful. I’m really positive about that,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to focus on two cars, and our crew chiefs are best friends. They’ll be working hard and they want to put RCR where it needs to be, and that’s winning championships.”

Dillon believes Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 entry in the Cup series will also help improve RCR’s performance on the track. Newman was second-fastest during a two-day NASCAR test this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I’m really excited about the Camaro ZL1. It’s an awesome-looking race car,” he said. “Some of that speed that we were missing last year I hope we gain this year, as far as the body goes.

“It catches us up and puts us in a better position to be able to compete.”