NASCAR Cup Series

Childress' grandkids rise through ranks

Published Jul. 22, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Richard Childress will never forget the day his grandsons were ready to go racing.

While the six-time NASCAR championship owner has endured his share of pricey investments over his four decades in racing, he's personally invested in the development programs for Austin and Ty Dillon, too. And it appears that this investment is paying off.

"I'd told them whenever they decided to go racing, to give me a call and let me know," Childress said. "When Ty turned 13, they called me and said, 'Pop Pop, you said if we're ready to go racing — we're ready.' And that was the most expensive call I ever had."

The brothers, sons of former Nationwide Series driver Mike Dillon and Childress' daughter Tina, worked their way from Bandoleros and Legends in the Summer Shoot Out Series, to Dirt with crate motors, to Super Late Models, and more recently ARCA and the K&N Pro Series.

"I'm just so proud of the progress they've showed, but more importantly, I'm really proud of them for being good young men," Childress said. "That makes me proud of both of them. They were never rushed into racing. We bought them some go-karts when they were kids. They'd run them a week or two and park them and go play football, soccer, all the kids' stuff."

Unlike some racing legacies, the Dillon boys have shown tremendous potential. They've also shown tremendous poise. While many youngsters might acquire an air of arrogance while rising through racing ranks, the Dillons have remained unpretentious and remarkably polite throughout the process.

And contrary to the perception that the Dillon boys are receiving state-of-the-art machines, these kids are given hand-me-downs just like any aspiring racer. Anyone who knows their grandfather understands Childress stays well within his budget. Just ask the boys.

"We've been told from the start if there are no sponsors or if we can't find a way to make it happen money-wise, that we're not racing," said Austin Dillon, 21. "We've learned from the beginning how much it means to take care of your equipment. Last year, we only had one DNF. In the year I ran the East Series, we had three guys that worked on my team and three cars for the whole year, and we recycled those cars all year. I was one of just a few guys that ran every lap last year in the field. Finishing races is something that has helped Ty and I move along faster.

"We take care of our equipment. We know that you can't be tearing up cars and expect to have new ones every week. They have to get fixed somehow — and that costs money. We were always taught if you bring your car back in one piece, we'll bring it back faster. We'll figure out a way to make it faster. We're focused on that. I think we've both done a good job with taking care of our equipment."

Conserving the equipment has also allowed the boys to budget for additional racing. In the past two weeks, the Dillons have run a dozen races between them. This weekend, Austin is double-dipping in the RCR truck and the KHI Nationwide car for Kevin Harvick.

Since the ARCA Series is off this weekend, Ty, who leads that series' point standings, is dirt-tracking around the South. In the past four days, Ty Dillon has raced at Phoenix City, Ala.; Rome, Ga.; and Cleveland, Tenn. Tonight he'll take on Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn.

At 19, Ty has already amassed an impressive resume. In 13 starts between the two K&N Pro Series tours, the younger Dillon has one win, four top-fives and eight top-10 finishes. Since moving to ARCA last year, he won two of the three races he entered in 2010; this season he leads the point standings after 11 events and has five wins to his credit.

"We had great equipment all last year and we won a couple of races off the bat, and I expected us to win a couple more this year, but five so far this season has been incredible," Ty Dillon said. "And to have such a big point lead has been really awesome. I'm really happy for my guys to be running this well, this quick."

And Dillon has been incredibly consistent this season. He's led 404 of 1,506 laps in eight of 11 races and completed all but two laps. He has an average finish of 4.1, and the two races Ty did not finish inside the top 10, he finished 11th.

The younger Dillon's expectations aren't large. He just wants "to keep winning races."

"We've got to power on, keep that points lead and run for the championship," Ty Dillon said. "I think we can do that. We've had fast equipment everywhere. If we can keep on, then we'll run a couple of truck races at the end of the year."

The plans for Ty include a debut in trucks at Kentucky and the full truck season in 2012. Ty says the greatest challenge in graduating from one tour to the next is acclimating to the conditions.

"Getting comfortable with the people you're racing with and getting comfortable with the cars," Ty Dillon said. "Getting the whole team to jell with the new series, getting in a routine with a group of people that you've got to travel with. Getting everything in routine and just getting comfortable with each other. Our team is so good that I feel that we can just jump into the truck series and dig in with those guys.

"It takes good equipment to run well, but you also have to finish the deal. And we've both been able to prove that we can win races, especially this year and last year. The thing that puts pressure on me is to go out there and prove to people that I can win races. Yes, I have good equipment, but I can get the job done."

Austin Dillon ran limited ARCA and K&N Pro Series races but posted similar results. His four ARCA starts yielded two top-five and three top-10 finishes. In the K&N Pro East Series, the elder Dillon won one race and scored seven top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes in 15 starts. In 2008, he finished second in East points and completed all 13 races on the lead lap.

Against some of the toughest competition in NASCAR, Dillon finished fifth in his first full year in the truck series. He led 392 laps, scored wins at Iowa and Las Vegas and qualified on the pole an impressive seven times to bolster a 5.6 average start for the 2010 season.

In his second full season in the Camping World Truck Series, Austin Dillon is second in the point standings — 22 points behind Johnny Sauter. While Austin’s rookie truck season seemed nearly "perfect," there have been a few hiccups in 2011, starting with Daytona in the final laps.

"I did everything that I could to win that race; then on the last two laps I got turned around. I had such a good race going before that happened. After that, it kind of got us off to a slow start," Austin Dillon said. "We had a top five at Phoenix. I was running good at Darlington; then on the restart, Johnny Sauter got me jacked up, and I finished 16th.

"I feel like we've done a good job of maintaining — taking the bad days and making them decent. I feel the last few weeks we've had the fastest trucks — Texas, Kentucky and Iowa — we just haven't been able to capitalize on it and finish the race. The good thing is, we have fast trucks and everybody knows it. We've been able to hang around in points, which is good. Running second in points for us right now is pretty impressive."

Since his hiccup at Daytona, Austin Dillon has completed all but 10 laps. He has improved his qualifying effort to 4.1 over last season. His ability to start upfront has helped him maintain solid track position and post an average finish of 11.2.

"Looking at our finishes, I didn't think we'd be second right now," Austin Dillon said. "I thought it would take more than that. I think the competition is really close in the truck series. They've done a good job this year. They're really fighting up there for points. If we can just get rolling here, we can get back in points and give Sauter a run for the lead.

"It's been a tough year, and it really shows you what kind of team you have in the bad times — how they overcome obstacles. My team is doing a great job of fighting right now to get over this hump. Second place seems great — but for us, we thought like we had first easy at Iowa. We were running really well. Getting over this hump for us is the toughest part right now."

Coming off a second-place finish in Iowa, Austin Dillon hopes to continue to build momentum this weekend at Nashville Speedway, where he will compete in both the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series. Dillon boasts a ninth-place average at Nashville in trucks. Last August he qualified on the front row and finished a career-high second.

Austin Dillon drove a Nationwide Series car for KHI in April. He qualified third and picked up his third top 10 in nine NNS starts.

"I'd love to go and get a guitar in the truck series this weekend," Austin Dillon said. "I think that's very possible. I think it's possible in the Nationwide Series, too. The 33 KHI car has been fast all year. It's the car that Harvick almost won Kentucky with. I'm looking forward to it.

"We're trying a little bit different setup this weekend in Nashville to see if we can gain just a little bit. I ran second there two races ago in the truck series, and the past race I was running second and was under Nelson Piquet (Jr.) and got spun around in the truck. I think we have two great shots at it this weekend."

While the sport has enjoyed watching the Dillon boys blossom, no one has taken more pleasure in the boys' maturation than their "Pop Pop" Childress.

"It's special," Childress said. "To watch these kids race and to see Ty win at Talladega and Michigan and some of the speedways and to see Austin win at Iowa and Las Vegas and do as well as he did his first year in truck — sitting on poles and the things he's accomplished. Both of them are racing for championships. It would be great to see one or both of them win championships before the year is over.

"They have good equipment, but there's guys that have great equipment. You still have to do it if you have good equipment. You've got to get it done. And I'm proud of both of them for what they've done."

Austin Dillon will make his Sprint Cup debut this fall at Kansas Speedway just "to see how it works," according to Childress. The plan is to field the eldest Dillon in the Nationwide Series next year through an RCR partnership with KHI.

Austin Dillon says the competition of the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series will be the greatest challenge when progressing through NASCAR's top two tiers.

"From first to 36th, they're going to have fast cars in the Cup field. In the truck series, it's about first to 20th," Dillon said. "It just jumps. Each series you go to has more competitive cars. I think the truck series this year is every bit as competitive as the Nationwide Series with the trucks we have out there. I feel the jump to the Cup cars will just mean more competition.

"After getting through that fuel injection test at Kentucky, I kind of know what I have to look forward to going into a similar mile-and-a-half at Kansas. We'll have a good team behind us in the Cup race, and I think we'll be fine. It will be a learning experience for sure. But once we get in the race, we'll be focused on running all the laps. Running double duty like this weekend helps me for the Cup race with the extended number of laps."

For now, Dillon's focus is on the truck series. He's looking at staying in tune in Music City and beyond.

"Hopefully, I'll bring home the guitar in at least one of them, but more importantly, we need a good points day for the team in the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet," Austin Dillon said. "They really want to win the championship, and I'd love to give Chevrolet the championship in the truck series."

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