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March 18, 2012

Austin Dillon Escapes Tough Bristol Motor Speedway with 12th-Place Finish

"It's hard to complain about a 12th-place finish as a rookie at this place because it's so notorious for being tough."

Start - 9
                  
Finish - 12           

Laps Led - 0          

Points Position - 4 

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Austin Dillon survived his first NASCAR Nationwide Series appearance at Bristol Motor Speedway with a 12th-place finish in Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet. Dillon started the 300-lap race from the ninth position and quickly noted a loose-handling condition on his Chevrolet. The first caution flag was displayed at lap 104 with Dillon scored in the 13th position and crew chief Danny Stockman immediately called the 21-year-old driver down pit road. A quick stop for four Goodyear tires, Sunoco E15 fuel and an air pressure adjustment to improve handling conditions was thwarted by a NASCAR-issued penalty for exiting pit road too fast. Dillon was instructed to restart the race at the tail-end of the longest line in the 14th position when green-flag racing resumed at lap 112. Although he was able to gain a few positions on the track, Dillon continued to struggle with handling issues. He was scored in the 12th position when the caution flag was displayed for the final time of the race at lap 262. The team made one final pit stop, taking only right-side tires in an attempt to gain track position. Dillon restarted in the eighth position with 28 laps remaining but continued to struggle with a loose-handling race car and crossed the finish line in the 12th position.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: 
"It's hard to complain about a 12th-place finish as a rookie at this place because it's so notorious for being tough. We just struggled with setup all weekend. We were too loose. We'll work on it and be able to come back here and run better. Still, I had a blast out there and I hope the NASCAR Nationwide Series fans had a blast watching, too."

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