bigbadbrother
01-11-2014, 02:30 PM
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.
It seemed like old times at Daytona International Speedway with the No. 3 Chevy on top of the speed chart.
However, it was the next generation of Richard Childress racer — Austin Dillon — securing the fastest speed of 195.108 mph during preseason testing on Friday.
For some drivers, carrying a number as iconic as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s might be stressful. But after campaigning with the 3 throughout his career — and winning championships in both the Nationwide and truck series — Dillon is used to the attention.
“I’m honored to be in the 3,” Dillon said. “This is special, and walking into the Cup garage this week is pretty cool. There are so many heroes in this garage for me, and just being in this garage is going to be pressure. There’s some added with the 3, obviously because it's coming back for the first time [to Sprint Cup] in a long time.
“But it's been here four years now. And I’m comfortable when I walk in the garage and jump in the seat. It's been fun so far. Just excited about getting the season started.”
Dillon started the day with his fellow competitors in NASCAR's annual safety meeting. When asked what he learned, Dillon joked about not showing up in the seminar's highlight reels.
The 23-year-old Rookie of the Year candidate was featured prominently for his flip in the No. 14 Chevy on the backstretch at Talladega Superspeedway and with Michael Annett in February at Daytona in the Nationwide Series race. Still, he complimented the sanctioning body for “using a lot of cool stuff to improve our safety and eliminate bad crashes.”
Despite growing up in the NASCAR garage in the shadow of his grandfather Richard Childress, Dillon reminds himself that he's “still really young.” But to no one's surprise, the freshman Cup drivers says he’s “had a blast.”
“I feel like we've taken our time coming up through the Truck Series, the Nationwide Series and done what we needed to do to get experience,'' Dillon said. "I'm thankful for my grandfather, my dad (Mike Dillon, VP of competition) and everybody at RCR for letting me take the time.
“Not everybody has the opportunity to grow and get experience, so that's one great thing. I feel now we're going in the Cup series prepared. We have a great team with a lot of experience. I feel like we're ready for a good Cup season.”
Dillon will compete for rookie honors against one of the strongest classes in years. In addition to his fellow Nationwide Series graduates — Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, Michael Annett and Cole Whitt — he also could be contending against Alex Bowman.
But Dillon has greater expectations ahead than just the rookie title. He would like to be the first competitor to earn the Triple Crown — championships in each of NASCAR’s top three series.
“Yeah, it's very special,” Dillon said. “Any time you can make a mark in our sport that has such a great history behind it, it's awesome.
“The cool thing is we had tough seasons. We battled out for the championships all the way down the wire, especially last year with (second-place NNS finisher) Sam Hornish. I'll never forget those experiences, and hopefully be able to take them and use them in this series.”
It seemed like old times at Daytona International Speedway with the No. 3 Chevy on top of the speed chart.
However, it was the next generation of Richard Childress racer — Austin Dillon — securing the fastest speed of 195.108 mph during preseason testing on Friday.
For some drivers, carrying a number as iconic as Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s might be stressful. But after campaigning with the 3 throughout his career — and winning championships in both the Nationwide and truck series — Dillon is used to the attention.
“I’m honored to be in the 3,” Dillon said. “This is special, and walking into the Cup garage this week is pretty cool. There are so many heroes in this garage for me, and just being in this garage is going to be pressure. There’s some added with the 3, obviously because it's coming back for the first time [to Sprint Cup] in a long time.
“But it's been here four years now. And I’m comfortable when I walk in the garage and jump in the seat. It's been fun so far. Just excited about getting the season started.”
Dillon started the day with his fellow competitors in NASCAR's annual safety meeting. When asked what he learned, Dillon joked about not showing up in the seminar's highlight reels.
The 23-year-old Rookie of the Year candidate was featured prominently for his flip in the No. 14 Chevy on the backstretch at Talladega Superspeedway and with Michael Annett in February at Daytona in the Nationwide Series race. Still, he complimented the sanctioning body for “using a lot of cool stuff to improve our safety and eliminate bad crashes.”
Despite growing up in the NASCAR garage in the shadow of his grandfather Richard Childress, Dillon reminds himself that he's “still really young.” But to no one's surprise, the freshman Cup drivers says he’s “had a blast.”
“I feel like we've taken our time coming up through the Truck Series, the Nationwide Series and done what we needed to do to get experience,'' Dillon said. "I'm thankful for my grandfather, my dad (Mike Dillon, VP of competition) and everybody at RCR for letting me take the time.
“Not everybody has the opportunity to grow and get experience, so that's one great thing. I feel now we're going in the Cup series prepared. We have a great team with a lot of experience. I feel like we're ready for a good Cup season.”
Dillon will compete for rookie honors against one of the strongest classes in years. In addition to his fellow Nationwide Series graduates — Kyle Larson, Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman, Michael Annett and Cole Whitt — he also could be contending against Alex Bowman.
But Dillon has greater expectations ahead than just the rookie title. He would like to be the first competitor to earn the Triple Crown — championships in each of NASCAR’s top three series.
“Yeah, it's very special,” Dillon said. “Any time you can make a mark in our sport that has such a great history behind it, it's awesome.
“The cool thing is we had tough seasons. We battled out for the championships all the way down the wire, especially last year with (second-place NNS finisher) Sam Hornish. I'll never forget those experiences, and hopefully be able to take them and use them in this series.”