Austin Dillon No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado Event Preview Facts

Event/Date: AAA Insurance 200 presented by J.D. Byrider – July 23, 2010
Venue: O’Reilly Raceway Park – Indianapolis, Ind.
 
Richard Childress Racing
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Notes:
 
· RCR’s NCWTS History … In 143 NCWTS starts, RCR has earned 21 wins, 62 top-five finishes, 91 top-10 finishes and 19 poles in NCWTS competition, along with the inaugural series championship in 1995 with Mike Skinner. The organization has an average starting position of 10.7 and an average finish position of 9.8.

· O’Reilly Raceway Park … In just five previous appearances to ORP, RCR has acquired two wins, two pole awards, two top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes. This weekend’s AAA Insurance 200 marks the racing organization’s first NCWTS appearance at ORP since 1999 and Austin Dillon’s first appearance at the 0.686-mile short track.

· Social Media …To keep up-to-date with the latest news and information and to view exclusive content, visit RCR’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Twitter page - @RCR3ADillon, Austin Dillon’s personal Twitter page - @AustinDillon3, and the Official Austin Dillon Facebook fan page –http://www.facebook.com/adillon3.

· Vote for Austin … Online voting is underway for the 2010 Most Popular Driver of the Year Award in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The link to the Most Popular Driver ballot is hosted on the NCWTS page on NASCAR.com and results will be announced at the combined awards banquet for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series on Monday, Nov. 22 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

· Catch the Action … Flag-to-flag coverage of the AAA Insurance 200 presented by J.D. Byrider will be televised live on Friday, July 23, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on SPEED and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.
 
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado
Race Notes and Quotes:
 
· This Week’s Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at O’Reilly Raceway Park … Austin Dillon will pilot chassis No. 003 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stable in this weekend’s AAA Insurance 200. Dillon has raced this chassis, built in-house by the Danny Stockman-led Bass Pro Shops team, on one previous occasion, earning a 16th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway after starting 19th. Dillon tested this chassis at Little Rock Speedway in Rockingham, N.C. in March.

· Dillon at ORP … Although Dillon has not previously raced at ORP in the NCWTS, he competed in the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the track, finishing 18th after starting 26th.

· Experienced Support System … Danny Stockman, crew chief of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, enters the O’Reilly Raceway Park race weekend on the heels of earning wins at the track as a truck chief in 2007 and 2009. Spotter Andy Houston has six starts at ORP as a driver, five in the NCWTS and one in the NNS.

· The Season so Far … In the first 11 races of the 2010 NCWTS season, Dillon boasts an average starting position of 6.7 and an average finish position of 13.1. In the last four consecutive races, he has earned four top-10 finishes and three top-fives, along with three pole awards.

· Busy Week … In between NCWTS events at Gateway and ORP, Dillon will occupy his time with a pair of dirt track races—at Rome Speedway in Georgia on Sunday and at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala., on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Dillon will attend the premiere of up-and-coming country music artist Tim Duggar’s song, “Sunday Drive” at Whiskey River in Charlotte, N.C. Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet are featured in the music video for the song.

· Raybestos Rookie Contender … Dillon is currently the leading candidate for the 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year award and has earned Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors in eight out of 11 races, including at Gateway last weekend.

· Meet Austin Dillon … Austin Dillon will sign autographs at the Camping World Store in Indianapolis on Thursday from 6-8 p.m.
 
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES
You have three pole awards already this season. How much will your qualifying strengths help you at ORP?

“We always put an emphasis on qualifying but I think it’s probably that much more important to start up front at a short track like ORP. Stockman and the guys have put together great trucks all year and we’re bringing the same truck we ran at Martinsville to ORP this weekend, so I know its good on short tracks. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to go out there and run well.”
 
DANNY STOCKMAN QUOTES
What does Austin need to do in order to be successful at ORP?

 “The key to being successful at ORP is to keep the fenders on the truck. As a driver, you have to be extremely patient because the corners are so long. The rules are the same for most short tracks, ORP included. You have to learn to bide your time and then race to win with 25 to 50 laps to go.”
 
 

Dillon, No. 3 BPS/SCI Team Earn Pole, Best Truck Series Finish at Texas

FORT WORTH, TEXAS (June 4, 2010) -- Austin Dillon earned the first pole position of his young NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career and then drove the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Safari Club International Chevrolet Silverado to a third-place finish, his first top five and career best in the series, in the June 4 WinStar World Casino 400K at Texas Motor Speedway.

Dillon and the No. 3 team moved up three spots, to 11th, in the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings. He is 56 points behind Ricky Carmichael in 10th, 57 behind David Starr in ninth, 66 back of Jason White in eighth and 78 points behind Matt Crafton in seventh. Dillon is 330 points behind point leader Todd Bodine.

The Lewisville, N.C., native was the 20th of 36 drivers to attempt a qualifying run Friday evening after running his first laps ever at the track just the day before. The BPS/SCI Chevy ran a quick lap of 30.226 seconds at 178.654 mph on the 1.5-mile tri-shaped oval. The run proved to be three one-hundredths of-a-second quicker than Crafton to earn Dillon his first Truck Series pole in just his eighth series start.

More than 40,000 Texas race fans were on-hand Friday night for the Camping World Truck Series’ scheduled 167-lap feature. Dillon led the field to the green flag at 8:18 p.m. Central Daylight Time and held the top spot for the race’s first 20 laps until the first of six caution flags slowed the field. Crew chief Danny Stockman brought the No. 3 Chevy Silverado down pit road for what was going to be a fuel-only stop. A last-second call for four tires, as well, made for a longer stay in the box and Dillon returned to action in sixth place.

The High Point University student battled for position in the top five throughout the night, running as high as second and only as low as fifth. The No. 3 BPS/SCI Chevy was fourth on lap 50, second on lap 75, fifth on lap 100 and third on lap 125. Dillon restarted fourth on lap 135 but got hung out in the outside lane and dropped to seventh. He rebounded to sixth by lap 150 and was fourth on lap 164 when the night’s final caution slowed the field and forced a green/white/checkered flag finish.

Dillon restarted on the outside of the second row, next to veteran and 1995 Truck Series champion Mike Skinner. He followed Skinner for the better part of two laps before pulling low in the tri-oval and sticking his truck’s nose ahead of Skinner’s at the line.

Bodine earned his first victory of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season and sixth career victory at Texas Motor Speedway. He beat Johnny Sauter to the checkered flag by 1.007 seconds. Dillon, Skinner and Ken Schrader were the other top-five finishers. Dillon’s fellow rookie-of-the-year contenders Jennifer Jo Cobb, Brett Butler, and Justin Lofton finished 14th, 19th, and 23rd, respectively.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for the tour’s next stop. Live coverage of the June 12 VFW 200 begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on SPEED. The race will also be broadcast worldwide on the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Qualifying for the ninth of 25 races is June 12 at 9:30 a.m. EDT.


AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE:
"What a phenomenal job by our Bass Pro Shops/Safari Club International team. I started off really good and lost it in the middle but, at the end, I raced hard and got us a good finish. I just had a little trouble on the restarts. I had a great race with (Mike) Skinner there at the end. In qualifying, I was hoping for a top four and jumping to the pole was really cool. The trucks we’ve been building have been immaculate. When you unload and have a comfortable feeling, it keeps me confident I can keep it wide-open the whole run.”
 
Pictures from Texas >>

For more information, contact:

David Hart
Director of Communications
Richard Childress Racing
hart@rcrracing.com
336.731.3334 ext. 3222 Office

BASS PRO SHOPS AND RCR PARTNER TO BRING BACK FAMOUS NO. 3

WELCOME, N.C. (January 19, 2010) -- Richard Childress Racing and Bass Pro Shops have reached a partnership agreement for third-generation driver Austin Dillon to compete in the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Silverado for the majority of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule.
 
This RCR/Bass Pro Shops partnership is the latest chapter of a relationship which began in 1998 when the nation’s No. 1 outdoor retailer signed on as an associate sponsor of RCR’s No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo with legendary driver Dale Earnhardt. The relationship continued with Kevin Harvick and the No 29 Chevrolet and, in 2004, Kerry Earnhardt, Dale’s eldest son, drove RCR’s No. 33 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Monte Carlo in six Sprint Cup Series races.
 
“All of us at Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats are tickled to death to once again partner with Richard Childress and the RCR team,” stated Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. “Austin is a promising young driver with a great future ahead of him,” continued Morris. “He also has a passion for hunting, fishing, and conservation just like his grandpa.”
 
Bass Pro Shops was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Springfield, Mo. The outdoor retail leader has 56 stores throughout the United States and Canada, serving over 100 million sportsmen a year.
 
Dillon, 19, is the grandson of RCR President and CEO, Richard Childress, and the son of Mike Dillon, a former NASCAR driver who is now RCR’s vice president of competition. The Clemmons, N.C., native began his racing career in 2005 driving Bandaleros and Legends cars, progressing to dirt and asphalt Late Model cars by 2007. He earned rookie of the year honors and finished second in the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series East point standings. That same year, Dillon made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Richmond International Raceway in September and earned a fourth-place finish at Memphis Motorsports Park in October in only his second race.
 
In 2009, Dillon competed in the NASCAR Camping World Series, ARCA Series, Nationwide Series and made two starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving RCR’s famous black No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado. In the fall of 2009, he enrolled in High Point University’s Nido R. Quebin School of Communications as an incoming freshman student.
 
“I’m very excited about welcoming Bass Pro Shops back to RCR,” said Dillon. “Hunting and racing have always been two of my family’s biggest passions and to be able to bring them together through Bass Pro Shops is truly special. This great partnership will create more awareness to hunting and wildlife conservation.”
 
RCR won the first NCWTS race, at Phoenix International Raceway, and went on to capture the series’ first championship in 1995 with Mike Skinner driving the No. 3 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Silverado. Skinner won 16 races in two seasons and Jay Sauter would earn four more victories before RCR discontinued the program at the conclusion of the 1999 season. In 132 NCWTS starts, RCR-prepared trucks earned 20 victories, 59 top-five and 85 top-10 finishes.
 
“It’s great to see the black No. 3 Chevy Silverado back on the track, especially with Bass Pro Shops on board with the program,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing. “I’m proud to have personally endorsed Bass Pro Shops since 1998 and I look forward to this exciting new chapter of our partnership. The great things Johnny Morris and Bass Pro Shops do for wildlife and outdoor conservation is very important. Austin and I are proud to spread the word about conservation as well as making the youth of America more aware of the importance and fun of hunting and fishing and conserving the great outdoors.”
 
RCR has fielded Chevrolet Silverados for eight drivers in the NCWTS: Bill Cooper, Austin Dillon, Mike Dillon, Tim George Jr., Dave Marcis, Jay Sauter, Jim Sauter, and Skinner.
 

For more information, contact:

David Hart
Director of Communications
Richard Childress Racing
hart@rcrracing.com
336.731.3334 ext. 3222 Office