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August 19, 2012

Austin Dillon and the No. 3 AdvoCare Team Score Their First Top-10 Finish in Road Course Competition

"What an up-and-down weekend for the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team. I am so proud of us for rebounding from the day we had on Friday."

Start - 19                     

Finish - 9                    

Laps Led - 0                           

Points Position- 4

Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing's No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team played fuel strategy to their advantage on Saturday afternoon at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, scoring a ninth-place finish in the Napa Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Dillon earned a 19th-place starting position despite flat-spotting his tires by spinning during the final lap of his qualifying session on Friday afternoon, prompting crew chief Danny Stockman to call the young driver down pit road on lap three for four tires and fuel. The early-race, green-flag pit stop dropped dropped the AdvoCare team to 36th in the running order and put the team on a different pit strategy than a majority of their competitors. However, a series of mid-race cautions placed Dillon back on a routine pit cycle and he climbed to 11th by lap 32. Throughout the race, Stockman instructed Dillon to conserve fuel as team engineers Ryan Sparks and Jeff Curtis continually crunched numbers, ultimately determining the black No. 3 Chevrolet would run out of fuel if the race was extended past the advertised, 76-lap distance. Scored in the 13th position with nine cars in front of the AdvoCare Chevrolet also dangerously low on fuel, Dillon drove to pit road while under caution on lap 75. The RCR team serviced the car with one can of Sunoco Green E15 and Dillon rejoined the competition in the 23rd position. He survived two additional restarts and dodged several cars in front of him who slowed on the race track as they ran out of fuel in the closing laps to post a ninth-place finish.                            

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTE: 

"What an up-and-down weekend for the No. 3 AdvoCare Chevrolet team. I am so proud of us for rebounding from the day we had on Friday. We changed engines and transmissions on Friday and only got about a half of a lap of practice in, then we came to the track refreshed and determined on Saturday, using strategy and working as a team to get a top 10 finish on a road course. Even though Road America, Watkins Glen and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve have been a struggle for me as a rookie, I do like road course racing. I feel like I'm improving e

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