FANTASY NASCAR Racin

an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the son of former driver and RCR general manager Mike Dillon, brother of Ty Dillon and grandson of Richard Childress. He made his first NASCAR Truck Series start at Iowa Speedway, driving the #3 Bad Boys Buggies truck. This was the first time that the #3 had appeared in any of the three major series since Dale Earnhardt Jr. used it in the Xfinity Series back in 2002. Dillon was supposed to start the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway during the 2009 NASCAR Truck Series season, but the truck failed post-qualifying inspection, thus his time was removed and he missed the field. Dillon would drive the #3 truck full-time in 2010 for Rookie of the Year, with sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops. Despite crashing out early at Daytona, Dillon got his first

career pole at Texas Motor Speedway in June and finished third, leading 20 laps. On July 11, Dillon scored his first career NASCAR victory in the Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway, winning a Truck Series race in the Tracker Chevy truck; wearing the #3 for the first time since Bryan Reffner won for Team Menard in 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. He ended the season with two wins and seven poles, earning him Rookie of the Year honors. In 2011, Dillon scored his first win of the year at Nashville Superspeedway. Dillon scored his second win of 2011 at Chicagoland Speedway, beating Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. After rain shortened the season finale at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dillon was crowned the 2011 NASCAR Truck Series Champion. He also won the 2011

Truck Series Most Popular Driver Award. Dillon made his first career start in the NASCAR Cup Series on October 9, 2011, in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. He finished 26th in his #98 Camping World Curb/Agajanian Racing Chevrolet Impala. Dillon started his first Xfinity series race on September 7, 2008 wheeling the #21 Childress Institute Chevy, and finished 26th. On November 4, 2011, Richard Childress Racing announced that Dillon would be moving up to the Xfinity Series in 2012, driving the #3 that Dale Earnhardt made famous, with sponsorship from AdvoCare, American Ethanol, and Bass Pro Shops. On June 29, 2012, Dillon recorded his first Xfinity Series win at Kentucky Speedway; he dominated the race by leading all but 8 laps and won by over 9.8 seconds over Kyle Busch. However, NASCAR officials announced the car had failed post-race inspection because the rear ride

heights were too low. Dillon got to keep the win; but was assessed a monetary fine and loss of points. In September Dillon again won at Kentucky and this time he passed post race tech. It was his second win of the year along with 16 top five finishes. Dillon finished third in the 2012 points chase. He also started his second career Cup race this season. He ran at Michigan and finished 22nd two laps behind. Dillon announced in August 2012 that he would continue to drive full-time in the Xfinity Series for 2013,

with Advocare as the primary sponsor for the full season, along with running seven Cup Series races that year, including the 2013 Daytona 500, where he qualified 8th, but crashed late in the race, relegating him to a 31st place finish. In January 2013 it was announced that some of Dillon's Cup races that season would be in Phoenix Racing's No. 51 Chevrolet. Dillon returned to the Truck Series for the inaugural Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway, leading a race-high 63 laps, and won after a green-white-checker finish. The truck, the trophy and the famed piece of dirt track are on display at NASCAR Hall of Fame. Later

in the year Dillon substituted for the ailing Brennan Newberry in the Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway. In early August 2013, it was announced that Dillon would substitute for Tony Stewart in the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet at Michigan due to Stewart's leg injury; he would also drive the car at Talladega Superspeedway in October. In Dillon's run at Talladega, he performed well during the event, and was running in the top five for most of the day; at the white flag, Dillon was third behind Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and was about to give Earnhardt Jr. a push for an attempt to make a winning pass when he was turned by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., slammed the backstretch wall, then was sent airborne when struck head-on by Casey Mears. On November 16, 2013, Dillon won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship with a 12th-place finish in the season

finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dillon's series championship was unusual because he did not win any races during the season; this marked the first time in any of NASCAR's three national series that a season champion went win-less. On December 11, 2013, it was announced by RCR that Dillon will drive the #3 Chevrolet SS in the NASCAR Cup Series with Cheerios and The Dow Chemical Company as the primary sponsors. It would be the #3 car's first Cup Series appearance in 13 years since Dale Earnhardt Sr had been killed driving the RCR owned #3 on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Many people voiced their displeasure over the return of the #3 to the track and many said the #3 should be permanently retired in homage

to Earnhardt. Things quieted down somewhat when Dale Earnhardt Jr stated he was glad to see the car back on the track and in his opinions thought Dillon would do a respectable job racing the car. During 2014 Daytona 500 qualifying, Dillon clinched the pole position with a speed of 196.019 miles per hour. After a long streak of bad finishes, Dillon rebounded in the 2014 Pocono 400. He ended the 2014 Cup season as one of only two drivers to have been running at the finish of every race during the season, the other being Jeff Gordon. He finished second in the rookie of the year standings to Kyle Larson. In the Xfinity race at Daytona in 2015, he won after the dominant car of Brian Scott crashed out of the race late in the going. In the Coke Zero 400 on July 5, coming to the checkered flag, Dillon was hit in the left front tire by the spinning car of

Denny Hamlin, causing him to flip into the catch-fence over two rows of cars. Dillon climbed out of the car unharmed, save for a bruised tailbone and a bruise on his forearm, but five fans were injured by flying debris. Dillon was credited with a seventh-place finish. He ran 20 races in the Xfinity series in 2015 posting four wins and 13 top ten finishes. In the Cup car he managed one top five finish; (a fourth at Michigan). Dillon competed part-time in the Xfinity Series in 2016, splitting the #2 of RCR with six other drivers. On the final lap of the Xfinity race in Fontana, Dillon battled with Kyle Busch, whose car had cut a left front tire, the two making contact as they approached the finish. Dillon's car hit the turn four wall but was able to hang on for the win. He posted a second win later in the season at Bristol; along with 11 top fives in only 19 starts. In the Cup series

he qualified for his first Chase for the Sprint Cup; though he advanced out of the Round of 16, he was eliminated in the following round. He ended the season 14th in points posting four top five finishes and 13 top tens. For 2017 he returned to the #3 car along with team mates Paul Menard (#27) and Ryan Newman (#31). Dillon's crew chief took a gamble on fuel mileage in the Coke 600; and as driver after driver hit pit road for fuel; Dillon stayed out hoping to make it to the checkered flag. He managed to nurse his car across the finish line to claim his first career Cup win. It qualified him to the Chase; but as Dillon was consistently a mid-teen place running car he was eliminated after the first round and finished 11th in the points. The 2018

season saw him start his season off with a bang. He punted Aric Almirola in the final turn of the Daytona 500 to steal the win; his only win of the season. In fact he only posted one other Top 5 all season, and only eight Top 10's. He struggled most of the season; but seemed to be hitting his stride towards the latter half of the season; posting seven finishes of 11th or better in the final ten races. 2019 saw Dillon again struggle all season. He performance was lackluster at best. He only led six races all season and only once was it more than nine laps. He was never a serious contender to win; and didn't even manage to post a Top 5 finish having a best finish of sixth. He only had four Top 10 finishes. He wasn't even able to finish in the top twenty in the season points standings. One wonders if he would have a ride at all in the Cup Series if he wasn't provided a seat by his grandfather Richard Childress. 2020 proved to show some redemption for Dillon. Rookie Tyler

Reddick was brought in to wheel the second team car; and it appeared Reddick found some speed; and helped the team with car set ups. Dillon benefited from this; and managed to win at Texas mid-way through the season. After no top fives and only six top tens in 2019; Dillon had four top five and nine top ten results. In the Chase, a 32nd place at Texas and 19th place finish at the Roval saw him miss advancing to round three of the Chase. He finished the season eleventh in points. Things remained the same in 2021 as he returned to the #3. Dillon had a poor season in 2021. His best finish of the season came at Daytona in the 500 where he finished third. It was his only Top 5 of the year. He only managed to claim eight Top 10’s. He spent most of the season running from 10th to

15th. He had 23 finishes in those positions. Clearly, he seemed to be a second tier car. His team mate Tyler Reddick posted 16 Top 10’s. Dillon and Reddick were back driving for RCR in 2022. Dillon started the 2022 season with a 25th-place finish at the 2022 Daytona 500. He scored three top-three finishes at Fontana, Martinsville, and Talladega. During this span he also added three other finishes in the top 11. Only crashes at Phoenix, Atlanta and Bristol kept him from good finishes. Driver after different driver kept winning, and locking themselves into

the Chase for the championship. As the regular season wound down; it became clear that Dillon was going to have to win to make the play-offs. The final race of the regular season was at Daytona. The race was a crash fest as usually happens at Daytona. There was three major crashes that took out a multitude of cars. Dillon managed to avoid the carnage. When the checkered flag flew; only 16 cars were still running; and only ten cars were on the lead lap. Austin Cindric had won the Daytona 500; and he looked as if he might pull of this win also. With 15 laps to go Cindric found himself in the lead with a tight pack on his

tail. With three laps to go, Dillon was able to sweep by Cindric with his team mate Tyler Reddick right behind. Drivers made several charges to get by Dillon; but when the checkers fell it was Dillon who got the win and advance to the Chase. Reddick was second with Cindric third. In the first round of the playoffs; Dillon could only manage a 17th and 14th place finish the first two races. A multi-car crash at Bristol, involving 12 cars; left him with a 31st place finish; and eliminated from the Chase. Dillon would later score two consecutive top-10 outings at the Charlotte Roval, giving him his second-career road course top 10 finish, (10th place) and then a 10th-place result at Las Vegas. Then, Dillon scored a career-first 3 consecutive top 10 finishes by coming home in 4th place at Homestead. He finished the season 11th in the points standings. 2023 should show the level of talent Dillon truly has. It has been

assumed that Richard Childress' race equipment just wasn't as good as the major owners had; and this was why Dillon didn't finish in the top ten very often, and had very few wins. Yet when Tyler Reddick got into a RCR car, he put up three wins in 2022. Now Reddick is leaving and going to 23XI racing; we see Kyle Busch coming to fill that spot. If Dillon can't step his game up; with the benefit of Kyle Busch to help him improve; this may prove the rumors that Dillon has only kept his ride because of "who" his grandfather is. Time will tell. With Kyle Busch coming to

RCR in 2023; it was thought that Austin Dillon would showa lot of improvement because of the experience Busch brought with him. But Dillon only posted one Top 54 finish on the year as he came hold third on the dirt at Bristol. He had seven top 10 finishes with his next been finish being ninth, on four occasions. His missed the play offs and finished well back in points. He also made two starts in the Xfinity series. Like his team mate Kyle Busch; he made a couple starts in the #10 LA Golf Chevy for Kaulig Racing. He finished eighth at Fontana and 16th at Loudon. Both of these tracks were where he posted one of his Top 10 Cup finishes; so maybe it would be wise for him to run more Xfinity events. Of course, he’ll be back with RCR in 2024. Some info from Wikipedia

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

AUSTIN REED DILLON - 04/27/1990