Richard Childress Racing

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February 21, 2012

Austin Dillon Event Preview: Drive4COPD 300

"All of the guys are ready to get to the track. I know that. Everybody is looking forward to getting here to Daytona and to get the first race behind us."

RCR/HHP Photo RCR/HHP Photo

Event Preview Fact Sheet

Austin Dillon
No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet Impala

Event/Date:
DRIVE4COPD 300
February 25, 2012

Venue:
Daytona International Speedway

Race Notes and Quotes:

This Week's AdvoCare Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway ... Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 478 in the Drive 4COPD from the Richard Childress Racing Nationwide Series Stable. This former Kevin Harvick Inc. chassis was driven by Clint Bowyer at Daytona in Feb. 2011, where he earned the pole and finished second, and at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2011, where he started second but finished 22nd after being involved in a multi-car incident.

Dillon at Daytona ... Dillon has had unfavorable results at Daytona International Speedway despite running well. One year ago at the World Center of Racing he earned the pole award and spent much of the 250-mile NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race running in the top-three but posted a disappointing 20th-place finish after a multi-truck incident while running third with just two laps remaining took him out of contention early. In 2010, Dillon made his first-career start at Daytona, where a lap-one incident left the team playing catch up for the duration of the race, resulting in a 26th-place finish after starting third. This weekend's Drive 4COPD will mark his first restrictor-plate race in the Nationwide Series.

Spark your Engines ... Dillon debuts RCR's partnership with award-winning premier health and wellness company AdvoCare on the No. 3 Chevrolet this weekend. AdvoCare offers nutrition, weight loss, energy and sports performance products of the highest quality developed through comprehensive research and backed by a Scientific and Medical Advisory Board. Dillon has trained with AdvoCare products all winter long, gaining 10 lbs of muscle mass and recently became a distributor of AdvoCare products. Dillon's favorite products include Spark, Rehydrate, meal replacement bars and Post-Workout Recovery.

#GetLike3 ... Dillon is making the move to fulltime competition in the Nationwide Series with several members of his championship-winning NCWTS team, including crew chief Danny Stockman (@dstockman3), car chief Robert Strmiska (@junebug_90), engineer Ryan Sparks (@R_Sparks_3), spotter Andy Houston (@ahouston95), truck driver Franky Nester, front tire changer Phillip Norris (@norristown_3), front tire carrier Dustin Keath (@thehandler3) and jackman Sam Abney. New members of the No. 3 team include mechanic Jason Meeks (@jmeeks55), who joins the team after spending last year working on Joey Coulter's NCWTS program at RCR, rear tire changer Jeremy West, who changed tires for Jeff Burton in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series last season (@west_jeremy), shock specialist Wayne Smith, a long-time RCR employee, and Earnhardt-Childress Racing engine tuner Brian Englehart, a long-time ECR employee. Former Kevin Harvick, inc. employees who have joined the team include mechanic Ben Bowden, rear tire carrier Josh Sobecki and fueler Harley Rauch. The team is using the Twitter hash tag #getlike3 as they tweet from the shop and from the race track this season.

Hive-Five, Grandma ... Dillon and fellow Nationwide Series drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier star in a commercial that debuted this week across all ESPN networks to promote the Nationwide Driver Pick' em fantasy racing game. In the 30-second spot, each driver is featured celebrating in Victory Lane with a race fan. In Dillon's case, the fan is an elderly woman who chest bumps the driver in excitement after he wins a race. The Nationwide Driver Pick 'em game is free of charge and allows fans to predict Nationwide Series race winners for a chance at a $500 weekly prize and an end-of-season grand prize of $25,000. To play, go to espn.com and enter the keyword Nationwide. 

The Big Time ... Dillon and fellow RCR personalities, including Richard Childress and Kevin Harvick, will appear in a racing-themed episode of "Bud United Presents: The Big Time!" on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. Eastern on ABC. The Big Time is the world's first social reality show and in the episode that Dillon appears in three aspiring racecar drivers vie for a chance to meet Childress and race against Harvick, Dillon and other drivers. The contestants, Katie Hagar, 25, of Mooresville, NC, Mike Mulhall, 30, of Los Angeles, Calif. and Eric Purcell, 26, of Shreveport, La, were cast via social media channels.

Know When to Hold 'Em ... Dillon will represent the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma in the NASCAR Foundation's High Speed Hold 'Em On the Halifax event on Feb. 22 at the new clubhouse of MG on the Halifax. The event pits drivers, celebrities, poker pros and one lucky fan against each other in a Pro-Am Texas Hold 'Em Style Poker Tournament with proceeds benefitting the NASCAR Foundation and Speediatrics. Race fans can win a chance to go "All In" and play with the pros. For details, go to www.EventsatMGontheHalifax.com.

Dirt Tracking ... Dillon's 2011 Speedweeks actually started on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park, where he and his brother, Ty, raced dirt Modifieds as part of the 41st annual DIRTCar Nationals.  

Meet Dillon ... Dillon and his brother, NCWTS championship contender Ty Dillon, will make an appearance at the Chevrolet Stage at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, Feb. 24 at 12 noon. Dillon will also appear at the Nationwide Display on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 11 a.m.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:

The guys in the shop at RCR have been working hard all winter and it seems like they are ready to start racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
"All of the guys are ready to get to the track. Everybody is looking forward to getting to Daytona and to get the first race behind us. Once we get the first race behind us we have three races in a row, so that's something new for me. In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series you get a month off, but in the Nationwide Series we are going racing. It will be fun. We're prepared and ready to go."

How has racing at Volusia Speedway Park helped you prepare for the Nationwide Series at Daytona?
"My brother Ty and I have been racing in the DirtCar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park since the 14th. We race every night. We will each take one night off and then we finish up on Tuesday night before heading to the big track. Racing dirt is huge for us. It's about getting your confidence up and getting in shape. I saw Tony Stewart out there practicing his Sprint car and I think racing dirt is helpful to a lot of guys. That's what we love about it. You go night-to-night and day-to-day and it keeps you focused. But, we know what our ultimate goal is and that's running good in the Nationwide car. It's just a fun time of year to come out here and run, especially when the weather is nice. The track has been really good, also."

Does your grandfather, Richard Childress, come out to watch you at the dirt track?
"Pop Pop and Nana both come. Of course, my parents are there every night. It's my favorite time of the year. It's so much fun. When you come out there you realize how much fun everybody is having. It's a huge family of dirt racers and its so much fun to hang out after the races and talk about racing with all of those racers. I saw Kenny Schrader there and Kenny Wallace was there, too. It's just a blast and to me it reminds me of the old days and how people helped each other out and raced against each other. It's just fun."
 

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