Austin Dillon to run seven Nationwide races for Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon, the 18-year-old grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup team owner Richard Childress, said Tuesday that he will attempt to qualify for seven Nationwide Series races next season.
Dillon made two Nationwide starts in 2008, coming home 26th at Richmond and fourth at Memphis, in addition to a full season in NASCAR’s Camping World East Series.
The son of RCR Vice President of Competition Mike Dillon plans to run the entire Camping World East slate once again in 2009 in addition to the seven Nationwide races, which will preserve his rookie status in the series for 2010, when he hopes to run a full schedule.
“We had really good success last year at Memphis and at Richmond for the first race out,” Dillon said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Fourth place in our second race really got us excited for next year. Seven races, it’s plenty of races to get some experience against those guys, and I’m looking forward to the following year.”
Dillon is uncertain which races he’ll run – he is still waiting on NASCAR approval to compete at the two superspeedways, Talladega and Daytona – but says Richmond and Iowa Speedway will likely be among them.
Dillon competed at Iowa, which is set to host its inaugural Nationwide race in 2009, last year in Camping World East, where he finished second in the points standings and earned rookie-of-the-year honors.
In 2009, Dillon expects to share seat time with another driver in the No. 21 Nationwide entry for RCR. That’s the number his father used when he last drove for the organization in 2001.
He’ll continue to run the No. 3 in Camping World East, a series that he considers pivotal to his growth as a driver.
“The double-file starts on the East series really make you have to be aggressive on the starts. I think that’s helped me a ton to get ready for the Nationwide,” Dillon said. “I mean you really have to be on your game on the restarts. Those guys go hard the very first five laps – that’s when most of your passing gets done now since the motors are so close. You just really have to be on your game on starts and restarts.”
Dillon isn’t sure which number he’ll run when makes the leap to full-time Nationwide competition.
He could see himself running the iconic No. 3 made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt, who won six of his seven Cup titles for RCR.
The number hasn’t been raced in one of NASCAR’s national series since Dale Earnhardt Jr. used it in a Nationwide outing for RCR at Charlotte in 2002.
“We’ll have to see,” Dillon said. “I’m fine with it. It’ll probably be up to my grandfather and what he believes. We’ll just have to see what’s going on.”
