Sammy John's replaces Slugger Labbe as No. 3 crew chief for Richmond

Operations Director Sammy Johns will replace Slugger Labbe as the crew chief on the No. 3 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, Richard Childress Racing announced Friday.

Labbe will remain at the Lexington, North Carolina race shop to work on cars for next weekend's GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

The team released a statement on Friday that read:

"Operations Director Sammy Johns will replace Slugger Labbe as the crew chief on the RCR No. 3 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Labbe will remain at the RCR shop to work on cars for next weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway."

Dillon has an average finish of 22.3 in six career starts at Richmond, while the fourth-year veteran notched a pair of top-10 finishes at Talladega in 2016. He placed third in last year's May race at NASCAR's biggest track.

The team has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, with an average finish of 19.5 and one top-10 finish through eight races.