Austin Dillon notes progress with top-10

For the first time since late May, the No. 3 Chevrolet of Austin Dillon was one of the first to cross the finish line Sunday afternoon.

Dillon charged to a seventh-place finish at Michigan International Speedway during the overtime attempt in the Pure Michigan 400. In doing so, Dillon grabbed his first top-10 finish since his victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway and just his third of the season.

Even better, it was the ending to a day during which Dillon complimented his Richard Childress Racing team over the radio about the drivability of his car.

"A long, long, long freaking way," said Dillon of how far his team has come in the last few weeks. "Car was very drivable throughout the race, we just needed a little more speed to get after it.

"But we made good pit strategy calls and adjusted the car well."

While he wasn't able to contend for the lead, Dillon still had one of his best performances to date as he moved up from his 17th starting spot and battled inside the top 10 throughout the day. Two cautions inside the final 15 laps saw the leaderboard jump around, but Dillon was able to use the outside, the preferred lane, and regain some spots.

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"It was a good last restart at the top. Needed that," Dillon said. "Guys did a good job – it's been awhile since we had a race car capable of doing something with it.

"RCR's been working hard and we need to hit our stride right when we get in the playoffs. That officially locks us in with [Kyle] Larson's win, so I'm really excited and a little pressure off our back now."

Dillon was one of five drivers to officially clinch a playoff berth Sunday. The others were Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne.

Speaking of the playoffs, Dillon's performance on a high-speed track felt even better considering half of the 10 post-season races are on intermediate tracks.

"Just proud to be running with these guys," Dillon said. "That was fun to do at the end."

Crew chief Justin Alexander noted how far Dillon and the team have come in a short period of time.