No. 31 RCR Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
ARCA RE/MAX Series Event Preview
Event:
Prairie Meadows 200 – July 11, 2009Venue: Iowa Speedway – Newton, Iowa
This weekend’s RCR Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS at Michigan International Speedway … Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 167 in this weekend’s Prairie Meadows 200. This chassis is a former No. 29 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racer that has been updated to fit 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series specifications.
Fourth ARCA Start … Dillon will make his fourth career RE/MAX Series start at Iowa this weekend. Most recently, the Lewisville, N.C., native finished second in June’s Racing for Wildlife 200 at Michigan International Raceway after starting 36th as rain cancelled qualifying and the field was set by the ARCA Series rulebook.
Collective RE/MAX Stats … In three career ARCA RE/MAX Series starts, Dillon has finished seventh (May 2008 – Rockingham Speedway), 15th (May 2009 – Kentucky Speedway), and second (June 2009 – Michigan). The 19-year-old driver boasts a 5.7 finishing average and has completed all laps contested (511) in those starts.
Third Time’s a Charm … The 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series East Rookie of the Year will make his third career start at Iowa Speedway. In his two previous starts (which occurred in the NCWSE) at the seven-eighths-mile tri-oval, Dillon has earned one pole, two top-10 finishes and has completed 397 of 400 laps (99.2 percent) contested.
Testing 1, 2, 3 … Dillon & Co. tested their No. 31 Chevrolet last week at Iowa in preparation for this weekend’s Prairie Meadows 200.
AUSTIN DILLON Quote:
“I’m excited to be heading back to Iowa for my third time. My two previous starts were in the East Series cars, which are fairly different than the ARCA cars. There are a bunch of things you can do differently in terms of the set-up in those two series, but the fact that I’ve raced there has definitely taught me a lot how the track conditions changes over the course of a long run. It’s a great facility and we had a great test last week. Our Chevrolet was pretty fast and we’re confident that it will carry over to the race.”
DAN DEERINGHOFF (crew chief) Quote:
“Our test last week taught us a lot about how the ARCA cars handle during long runs. Our No. 31 Chevrolet showed a lot of speed and definitely built up our team’s confidence. We are hoping to have a strong qualifying effort in order to stay up front all day and contend for the win at the end.”
- Richard Childress Racing Press Release