Tuesday
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado Darlington Preview
Press Release
Race: Too Tough To Tame 200
Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
Richard Childress Racing; NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Notes:
RCR’s NCWTS History … In 162 NCWTS starts, RCR has earned 22 wins, 67 top-five finishes, 103 top-10 finishes and 24 poles, along with the inaugural series championship in 1995 with Mike Skinner. The organization has an average starting position of 10.2 and an average finish position of 10.1.
RCR History at Darlington … RCR has just one previous appearance at Darlington. Austin Dillon started ninth and finished fifth in August 2010 at the track.
Social Media … To keep up-to-date with the latest news and information and to view exclusive content, visit RCR’s Twitter page – @RCRracing, RCR’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Twitter pages – @RCR3ADillon and @RCR22JCoulter, RCR’s NCWTS driver Twitter pages – @AustinDillon3 and @JoeyCoulter, and the Official Austin Dillon Facebook fan page -http://www.facebook.com/adillon3.
Catch the Action … Flag-to-flag coverage of this weekend’s Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway will be televised live on SPEED and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, March 12.
No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado
Race Notes and Quotes
This Week’s Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at Darlington Raceway Raceway … Austin Dillon will pilot chassis No. 005 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stable in this weekend’s Too Tough To Tame 200. This is the same chassis that Dillon drove to Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway in July 2010, leading 187 of 200 laps, earning a perfect driver rating of 150 and out-dueling Johnny Sauter in a green-white-checkered restart to earn his first career NCWTS victory and bring sponsor Bass Pro Shops and RCR’s famed black No. 3 to Victory Lane.
In 2010, Dillon also raced this chassis, built in-house by the Danny Stockman-led Bass Pro Shops team, at New Hampshire International Raceway, finishing fifth after starting fourth, at Darlington Raceway, finishing fifth after starting ninth, at Nashville Superspeedway, finishing second after starting second, at Gateway International Raceway, finishing seventh after starting sixth, at Texas Motor Speedway in June, finishing third after starting on the pole, and at Martinsville Speedway, finishing 16th after starting ninth. The Bass Pro Shops team boasts an average starting position of 4.6 and an average finish of 5.6 with this chassis.
Phoenix Recap … Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet team finished fifth at Phoenix International Raceway after starting second. Dillon ran in the top three for much of the race, but fell to 10th as changing track conditions affected the handling of his Silverado. Stockman & Co. were able to make adjustments during the race that allowed Dillon to finish fifth.
Dillon at Darlington … Last August, Dillon started ninth and finished fifth in NCWTS competition at Darlington, his first, and only, appearance at the track “too tough to tame.”
Getting Loopy in Darlington … Dillon has posted some impressive loop data statistics so far this season:
- First in the category of average running position with a 5.461 average
- First in the category of average starting position with a 1.5 average
- Second in the category of driver rating (first among fulltime series competitors), with a driver rating of 100.1, a formula combining wins, finishes, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, led most laps, lead-lap finish
- First in the category of laps in top 15 (246 laps run in the top-15/ 97.2 percent of the time)
- Fifth in the category of fastest drivers early in a run (first 25 percent of laps run since a pit stop)
- Fourth in the category of fastest drivers late in a run (last 25 percent of laps run since a pit stop)
- Fourth in the category of fastest on restarts (speed of first two laps run under green)
Up and Comers … Dillon and his brother, fulltime ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards driver Ty Dillon, are featured as future stars in motor sports in this week’s ESPN the Magazine.
Meet Austin … Dillon will join teammate Joey Coulter and the rest of the NCWTS starting field in an autograph session at the track on race day from 1:30 until 2:30 p.m.
What’s Darlington Like?
“It’s a challenging track, for sure. It’s fun. You drive up high right next to the wall, so if you make any type of a mistake you pretty much end up right in the wall. It’s even more challenging since they repaved it. It’s a tough track, but I love it.”
What advice do you give to rookie drivers?
“Run every lap. I can give my opinions to first year truck series drivers, such as my teammate, Joey Coulter, but when it comes down to it, the best way to learn is to actually race and experience different situations for yourself. I definitely feel more prepared this year heading into every track that I’ve been able to run a lot of laps on. For the tracks where I had problems and didn’t get to run as many laps, I will be leaning on others just as Joey does. Having prior experience at a track definitely helps, but it’s cool that other drivers can come talk to me this year.”
- Richard Childress Racing Press Release
Article Tags: ARCA Racing Series (ARS) presented by Menards, Austin Dillon, Danny Stockman, Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway, Johnny Sauter, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, NCWTS, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, NHMS, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado, RCR, Richard Childress Racing, Texas Motor Speedway, TMS, Too Tough to Tame 200, Ty Dillon
