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Sprint Cup
TRUCKS: Dillon Aware No. 3 Expected To Win
Austin Dillon, grandson of team owner Richard Childress, carries the No. 3 of the late Dale Earnhardt in the Camping World Truck Series...
Austin Dillon wins the pole at NASCAR Camping World Truck Series FORD 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
DILLON FULLY AWARE THAT ONLY ACCEPTABLE PLACE FOR FAMED NO. 3 IS VICTORY LANE
AFTER EARNHARDT JR.’S FEEL-GOOD WIN AT DAYTONA, NCWTS ROOKIE GOES FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE POLE AND TOP-FIVE FINISH, FIRST WIN LIVE ON SPEED™ SUNDAY AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
Dillon: ‘It would get the burden of a win off my back. I think I’ve got it coming and I’m going to burn the tires down when it happens.’
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have vowed his emotional win in the iconic No. 3 last weekend at Daytona would be his last in the number his father made famous, but NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Austin Dillon is just getting started with his efforts to return the black No. 3 to Victory Lane, beginning this weekend at Iowa Speedway.
Dillon has done everything but win in his last two Truck Series outings, but that could change in Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET live on SPEED; NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at 1:30 p.m. ET) at Iowa Speedway, one of only two tracks on the circuit on which he has past experience, including a pole position and a runner-up effort. For once, the rookie isn’t quite a rookie.
After leading laps, scoring consecutive pole positions and knocking down top-five finishes at Texas and Michigan, Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team ride a wave of momentum into what could be his best track this season.
“Iowa Speedway is an awesome place for us to be going now that we’ve got a little momentum,” Dillon said. “It’s a place I’ve got a ton of laps on. Other than Michigan, it’s the first track we’ve gone to that I have any laps on. We’ve got a new truck we’ll be taking that we ran at Texas - our little ‘bullet’ - and I really think we can break out and get a win.”
Dillon scored a pole position in the 2008 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at Iowa Speedway and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2009 ARCA Racing Series. All told, he has five starts at Iowa, four of which netted him top-15 showings. But he is hesitant to say he has a leg up on the competition this week, the first of nine consecutive races all live and exclusive on SPEED.
“I don’t know that I have an advantage – you still have Mike Skinner and some of the best in the business who ran well at Iowa last year,” Dillon said. “But Iowa should be our best shot so far for a win. I ran the Truck race there last year, so that should play a little bit to my advantage.”
One of the best in the business and one of the drivers Dillon will have to beat, reigning NCWTS champion Ron Hornaday, is quite impressed with the youngster.
“I’ve got high expectations for him,” Hornaday said. “He’s a heck of a racer. Richard Childress already had a strong team in place and he’s got the best equipment out there. With him juggling school, dirt and truck racing, he’s doing a heck of a good job. A lot of good things are going to come out of Austin Dillon.”
Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress and son of Mike Dillon, former driver and current Richard Childress Racing Vice President of Competition, checked off his first top-10 finish of the year in the season’s second race at Atlanta, but endured a couple of mistake-plagued races en route to breaking into the top five at Texas, including a transmission failure at Dover and an accident at Charlotte due to loose lug nuts.
Dillon, the first driver to ever compete fulltime in NASCAR while attending college, says the difference over the last couple of races has been the team’s ability to learn from those blunders.
“What got us to those back-to-back top-fives was minimizing mistakes,” Dillon explained. “We had some rough starts this year but the biggest thing was learning how to finish races.”
But there was one mistake at Michigan that the team wasn’t able to minimize. After leading several times, Dillon was out front when he pitted under green late in the race, only to be hit with a stop-and-go penalty for leaving the pit box with the gas can still attached, relegating him to the 17th position. After a couple of cautions, he was 16th when the green flag waved with eight laps remaining.
“I was like ‘Wow, what have we done now?’ when we got penalized,” Dillon recalled. “We had such a good run going and I was kind of angry. When the caution came out and I got my lap back and was 16th, I told the crew it was time to go. They knew I had my head down and was focused.”
Dillon knows he may have missed his best shot yet at his career-first Truck Series victory, but he recognizes the team’s potential if they can put together a perfect race.
“With that penalty at Michigan, to come back and finish fifth … if we can cut out these pit road mistakes and wheels falling off, I really think we have a shot to contend for the championship,” he said. “The points are kind of getting away from us right now but we can come back and finish in the top five. That’s our goal and I think we can do that, especially with the way we’re running now.”
And when the day finally comes that Childress’ grandson finally takes the black No. 3 truck to Victory Lane?
“It will be amazing,” Dillon explained. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling – relief, I guess. It would get the burden of a win off my back. I think I’ve got it coming and I’m going to burn the tires down when it happens.”
SPEED™, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation’s first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in more than 79 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEED.com, the online motor sports authority.
AFTER EARNHARDT JR.’S FEEL-GOOD WIN AT DAYTONA, NCWTS ROOKIE GOES FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE POLE AND TOP-FIVE FINISH, FIRST WIN LIVE ON SPEED™ SUNDAY AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
Dillon: ‘It would get the burden of a win off my back. I think I’ve got it coming and I’m going to burn the tires down when it happens.’
Dale Earnhardt Jr. may have vowed his emotional win in the iconic No. 3 last weekend at Daytona would be his last in the number his father made famous, but NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie Austin Dillon is just getting started with his efforts to return the black No. 3 to Victory Lane, beginning this weekend at Iowa Speedway.
Dillon has done everything but win in his last two Truck Series outings, but that could change in Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET live on SPEED; NCWTS Setup with Krista Voda at 1:30 p.m. ET) at Iowa Speedway, one of only two tracks on the circuit on which he has past experience, including a pole position and a runner-up effort. For once, the rookie isn’t quite a rookie.
After leading laps, scoring consecutive pole positions and knocking down top-five finishes at Texas and Michigan, Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team ride a wave of momentum into what could be his best track this season.
“Iowa Speedway is an awesome place for us to be going now that we’ve got a little momentum,” Dillon said. “It’s a place I’ve got a ton of laps on. Other than Michigan, it’s the first track we’ve gone to that I have any laps on. We’ve got a new truck we’ll be taking that we ran at Texas - our little ‘bullet’ - and I really think we can break out and get a win.”
Dillon scored a pole position in the 2008 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at Iowa Speedway and followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2009 ARCA Racing Series. All told, he has five starts at Iowa, four of which netted him top-15 showings. But he is hesitant to say he has a leg up on the competition this week, the first of nine consecutive races all live and exclusive on SPEED.
“I don’t know that I have an advantage – you still have Mike Skinner and some of the best in the business who ran well at Iowa last year,” Dillon said. “But Iowa should be our best shot so far for a win. I ran the Truck race there last year, so that should play a little bit to my advantage.”
One of the best in the business and one of the drivers Dillon will have to beat, reigning NCWTS champion Ron Hornaday, is quite impressed with the youngster.
“I’ve got high expectations for him,” Hornaday said. “He’s a heck of a racer. Richard Childress already had a strong team in place and he’s got the best equipment out there. With him juggling school, dirt and truck racing, he’s doing a heck of a good job. A lot of good things are going to come out of Austin Dillon.”
Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress and son of Mike Dillon, former driver and current Richard Childress Racing Vice President of Competition, checked off his first top-10 finish of the year in the season’s second race at Atlanta, but endured a couple of mistake-plagued races en route to breaking into the top five at Texas, including a transmission failure at Dover and an accident at Charlotte due to loose lug nuts.
Dillon, the first driver to ever compete fulltime in NASCAR while attending college, says the difference over the last couple of races has been the team’s ability to learn from those blunders.
“What got us to those back-to-back top-fives was minimizing mistakes,” Dillon explained. “We had some rough starts this year but the biggest thing was learning how to finish races.”
But there was one mistake at Michigan that the team wasn’t able to minimize. After leading several times, Dillon was out front when he pitted under green late in the race, only to be hit with a stop-and-go penalty for leaving the pit box with the gas can still attached, relegating him to the 17th position. After a couple of cautions, he was 16th when the green flag waved with eight laps remaining.
“I was like ‘Wow, what have we done now?’ when we got penalized,” Dillon recalled. “We had such a good run going and I was kind of angry. When the caution came out and I got my lap back and was 16th, I told the crew it was time to go. They knew I had my head down and was focused.”
Dillon knows he may have missed his best shot yet at his career-first Truck Series victory, but he recognizes the team’s potential if they can put together a perfect race.
“With that penalty at Michigan, to come back and finish fifth … if we can cut out these pit road mistakes and wheels falling off, I really think we have a shot to contend for the championship,” he said. “The points are kind of getting away from us right now but we can come back and finish in the top five. That’s our goal and I think we can do that, especially with the way we’re running now.”
And when the day finally comes that Childress’ grandson finally takes the black No. 3 truck to Victory Lane?
“It will be amazing,” Dillon explained. “I don’t know how to describe the feeling – relief, I guess. It would get the burden of a win off my back. I think I’ve got it coming and I’m going to burn the tires down when it happens.”
SPEED™, anchored by its popular and wide-ranging coverage of NASCAR, is the nation’s first and only cable television network dedicated to automotive and motorcycle racing, performance and lifestyle. Now available in more than 79 million homes in North America, SPEED is among the industry leaders in interactive TV, video on demand, mobile initiatives and broadband services. For more information, please visit SPEED.com, the online motor sports authority.
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