NASCAR Stars Ty And Austin Dillon Haven't Forgotten Their Racing Roots
NASCAR Stars Ty And Austin Dillon Haven't Forgotten Their Racing Roots
Austin and Ty Dillon have ascended to the top tier of NASCAR, but their grassroots run deep.
If you go to your favorite grassroots short track and happen to see one or two guys who look a lot like NASCAR drivers Austin Dillon and brother Ty, it may very well be them.
Sure, the Dillons are trying to make their names in NASCAR's premier series, but much like fellow drivers Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the Dillon boys can't--nor won't--forget their short track roots.
When Jeff Gordon left short track and dirt track racing for NASCAR, he did not return to a dirt track to race until the 2007 "Prelude to the Dream" all-star race at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway.
It was pretty clear that Gordon hadn't forgotten how to race on dirt, as he almost took the win, falling short to eventual victor and fellow NASCAR driver Carl Edwards.
But the Dillons are totally different. They don't have to, but they love to go back whenever they can to kick up some dirt.
For the last several years, Ty and Austin have not only been teammates in grandfather Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR organization but also at Shane McDowell Racing, formerly known as TeamDillonRacing.com. And yes, the McDowell in the name refers to the legendary Dale McDowell.
Team Dillon was started by Ty and Austin's father, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) vice president Mike Dillon. And while former teammate Kevin Harvick, during his final season of racing for RCR in 2013, accused the Dillon boys of having silver spoons because they were Childress' grandsons, that couldn't be further from the truth.
The Dillon brothers both wanted to be like Dale Earnhardt, their paw-paw's celebrated driver, who won six of his seven NASCAR Cup championships driving for RCR.
When they came individually to their father and grandfather, saying they wanted to be racers, the Dillon boys were told that--contrary to what Harvick alleged--they'd have to work for everything if they wanted to truly be racers.
They'd have to work on their own vehicles, whether they were go-karts or late models. They'd have to put much of their earnings into keeping their cars in good shape.
And while Childress and Dillon could give them the best of everything if they wanted to, they also wanted to teach Ty and Austin responsibility and make them earn their own way both on and off the track.
Rather than pout or throw tantrums, the boys did what their father and grandfather told them to do. Like Frank Sinatra, they did it their way. And in so doing, they learned many valuable lessons along the way that only further enhanced their desires to make it in NASCAR--even if their granddad was one of the biggest owners in the sport.
When the Dillons race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, they're doing it for business. But when they run on select dirt tracks--particularly around their home base of Welcome, North Carolina--they're doing it for what 99.9 percent of other dirt track racers do it for: the fun and the competition.
While the Dillons will be at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, they will not be racing across the street at the Talladega Short Track. But don't be surprised to see the brothers in the pits or in the grandstands, watching the NeSmith or Southern All-Stars races that will be taking place at the well-known short track.
Ahnna Parkhurst, another member of their team, will be racing in the NeSmith series at Talladega this week.
Both Dillons took a long and circuitous route to NASCAR stardom. Let's take a brief look at both of their careers and how they used short track and grassroots racing as the springboard to where they are today.
Ty began racing in Bandolero mini-cars. He won the 2008 UARA championship in the No. 3 Chevrolet (in honor of Earnhardt).
He moved up to the K&N Pro Series East in 2009 and was a strong contender for the championship in 2010, including winning in August 2010 on the asphalt surface at Gresham Motorsports Park.
The same year, Ty made three starts in the ARCA series and won two of them (Kansas, Rockingham). That was just a prelude to greater success as he'd win seven times en route to the ARCA championship in 2011, defeating future NASCAR Cup competitor Chris Buescher by a whopping 340 points. Buescher got some slight revenge: He won ARCA Rookie of the Year honors that season, beating Ty by a mere two points.
At the same time, the younger Dillon brother--two years behind Austin--had already started working on his path to the Cup Series, driving in the Camping World Truck Series in 2011 and Xfinity Series in 2012. Including this season, Dillon has a combined 173 starts in the two series with four wins and 29 top-five finishes, as well as nine poles.
When he goes back to racing at the grassroots level, Dillon typically drives the No. 41 Super Late Model and Open Wheel Modified.
Some of Ty Dillon's key grassroots racing career highlights:
* 2008: Crate Late Models (16 starts, 9 wins, 13 top 5s, 16 top-16 finishes)
* 2009: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 3 top 5s), Super Late Model (1 start, 1 top 5), Crate Late Model (1 start, finished 13th), Asphalt Late Model (12 starts, 4 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2010: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 top 10), Super Late Model (4 starts, 2 top 10s), Crate Late Model (1 start, 14th), Asphalt Late Model (11 starts, 4 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2011: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 wins, 4 top 5s), Super Late Model (14 starts, 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2012: Part of the Shane McDowell team that combined for 85 races in 13 different stats with 10 wins, 34 top 5s, and 45 top 10s). Open Wheel Modified (8 starts, 1 win, 5 top 5s, 8 top 10s). Super Late Model (13 starts, 1 top 5, 6 top 10s).
* 2013: Open Wheel Modified (5 starts, 1 win, 3 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts. 2 top 10s).
* 2014: 4 wins and one other top 5 in Open Wheel Modified.
* 2015: Won at Volusia Speedway Park during the DIRTCar Nationals in his No. 41 open-wheel modified.
* 2016: Made seven starts and earned five top 5s and two other top-10 finishes.
The older Dillon brother--he's 27, Ty is 25--almost didn't make racing his career.
Austin was a noted baseball player in North Carolina, including having played in the 2002 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
He also starred in baseball in high school, but upon graduating he turned his entire focus on racing--and the rest is history.
Dillon actually started racing during his prep baseball career, racing Bandoleros in 2005 at the age of 15. He did so well that he quickly moved up to Legends Cars.
A big step was when he attended Shane McDowell's dirt track driving school in 2006--starting a racing partnership that is now in its 12th year.
Dillon learned his lessons at McDowell's school well and quickly continued up racing's fast track and began driving Late Models throughout the Southeast by the time he was 16.
He made his NASCAR debut in 2008 at the age of 18 in the K&N Pro Series East class and also ran his first race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
One year later, he made his Camping World Truck Series debut and hit the sport's top level, the NASCAR Cup Series, for the first time in 2011.
Some of Austin Dillon's key grassroots racing career highlights:
* 2005: Began racing in Bandolero Mini Cars and Legends Cars series.
* 2006: Began dirt racing in late models and modifieds.
* 2007: Won All-Star Shootout at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Crate Late Model (9 starts, 3 wins, 4 top 5s).
* 2008: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 top5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (10 starts, 2 wins, 6 top 5s, 8 top 10s). Crate Late Models (2 wins, 4 top 5s). Late Model racing at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (13 starts, 1 win, 10 top 10s). Moved up to K&N Pro Series East, won Rookie of the Year honors for finishing second in final standings (13 starts, 1 win, 6 top 5s, 10 top 10s).
* 2009: Won second All-Star Shootout at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Won the dirt Fastrak Crate Nationals at Wythe Raceway (VA). ARCA (2 starts, 2 runner-up finishes). Open Wheel Modified (2 wins, 5 top 5s). Super Late Model (17 starts, 2 top 5s, 11 top 10s). Crate Late Models (3 starts, 3 wins).
* 2010: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 win, 3 top 5s). Super Late Model (18 starts, 2 wins, 8 top 10s). Set Fast Time at the World 100, Eldora Speedway in Eldora OH.
* 2011: Finished 8th in Prelude to the Dream at Eldora. Won opening night of Southern Nationals at Wythe Raceway (VA). Finished 9th in World 100 at Eldora. Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 wins, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (17 starts, 2 wins, 8 top 5s, 12 top 10s).
* 2012: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 1 win, 4 top 5s, 5 top 10s). Super Late Models (10 starts, 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Part of the Shane McDowell team that combined for 85 races in 13 different stats with 10 wins, 34 top 5s, and 45 top 10s). Finished second in the UMP DIRTcar Nationals Open Wheel Modified points Championship for third straight year at Volusia Speedway Park (FL). Set Fast Time at Prelude to the Dream and finished third.
* 2013: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts, 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Won inaugural Mudsummer Classic in Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway.
* 2014: Open Wheel Modified (5 starts, 1 win, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts, 3 top 5s).
* 2015: In six starts during season-opening week at Volusia Speedway, won three races, including the Gator Championship and also DIRTCar National Points Championship. Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 top 5, 3 top 10s).
Sure, the Dillons are trying to make their names in NASCAR's premier series, but much like fellow drivers Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the Dillon boys can't--nor won't--forget their short track roots.
When Jeff Gordon left short track and dirt track racing for NASCAR, he did not return to a dirt track to race until the 2007 "Prelude to the Dream" all-star race at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway.
It was pretty clear that Gordon hadn't forgotten how to race on dirt, as he almost took the win, falling short to eventual victor and fellow NASCAR driver Carl Edwards.
But the Dillons are totally different. They don't have to, but they love to go back whenever they can to kick up some dirt.
For the last several years, Ty and Austin have not only been teammates in grandfather Richard Childress Racing's NASCAR organization but also at Shane McDowell Racing, formerly known as TeamDillonRacing.com. And yes, the McDowell in the name refers to the legendary Dale McDowell.
Team Dillon was started by Ty and Austin's father, Richard Childress Racing (RCR) vice president Mike Dillon. And while former teammate Kevin Harvick, during his final season of racing for RCR in 2013, accused the Dillon boys of having silver spoons because they were Childress' grandsons, that couldn't be further from the truth.
The Dillon brothers both wanted to be like Dale Earnhardt, their paw-paw's celebrated driver, who won six of his seven NASCAR Cup championships driving for RCR.
When they came individually to their father and grandfather, saying they wanted to be racers, the Dillon boys were told that--contrary to what Harvick alleged--they'd have to work for everything if they wanted to truly be racers.
They'd have to work on their own vehicles, whether they were go-karts or late models. They'd have to put much of their earnings into keeping their cars in good shape.
And while Childress and Dillon could give them the best of everything if they wanted to, they also wanted to teach Ty and Austin responsibility and make them earn their own way both on and off the track.
Rather than pout or throw tantrums, the boys did what their father and grandfather told them to do. Like Frank Sinatra, they did it their way. And in so doing, they learned many valuable lessons along the way that only further enhanced their desires to make it in NASCAR--even if their granddad was one of the biggest owners in the sport.
When the Dillons race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, they're doing it for business. But when they run on select dirt tracks--particularly around their home base of Welcome, North Carolina--they're doing it for what 99.9 percent of other dirt track racers do it for: the fun and the competition.
While the Dillons will be at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, they will not be racing across the street at the Talladega Short Track. But don't be surprised to see the brothers in the pits or in the grandstands, watching the NeSmith or Southern All-Stars races that will be taking place at the well-known short track.
Ahnna Parkhurst, another member of their team, will be racing in the NeSmith series at Talladega this week.
Both Dillons took a long and circuitous route to NASCAR stardom. Let's take a brief look at both of their careers and how they used short track and grassroots racing as the springboard to where they are today.
TY DILLON
Ty began racing in Bandolero mini-cars. He won the 2008 UARA championship in the No. 3 Chevrolet (in honor of Earnhardt).
He moved up to the K&N Pro Series East in 2009 and was a strong contender for the championship in 2010, including winning in August 2010 on the asphalt surface at Gresham Motorsports Park.
The same year, Ty made three starts in the ARCA series and won two of them (Kansas, Rockingham). That was just a prelude to greater success as he'd win seven times en route to the ARCA championship in 2011, defeating future NASCAR Cup competitor Chris Buescher by a whopping 340 points. Buescher got some slight revenge: He won ARCA Rookie of the Year honors that season, beating Ty by a mere two points.
At the same time, the younger Dillon brother--two years behind Austin--had already started working on his path to the Cup Series, driving in the Camping World Truck Series in 2011 and Xfinity Series in 2012. Including this season, Dillon has a combined 173 starts in the two series with four wins and 29 top-five finishes, as well as nine poles.
When he goes back to racing at the grassroots level, Dillon typically drives the No. 41 Super Late Model and Open Wheel Modified.
Some of Ty Dillon's key grassroots racing career highlights:
* 2008: Crate Late Models (16 starts, 9 wins, 13 top 5s, 16 top-16 finishes)
* 2009: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 3 top 5s), Super Late Model (1 start, 1 top 5), Crate Late Model (1 start, finished 13th), Asphalt Late Model (12 starts, 4 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2010: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 top 10), Super Late Model (4 starts, 2 top 10s), Crate Late Model (1 start, 14th), Asphalt Late Model (11 starts, 4 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2011: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 wins, 4 top 5s), Super Late Model (14 starts, 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s)
* 2012: Part of the Shane McDowell team that combined for 85 races in 13 different stats with 10 wins, 34 top 5s, and 45 top 10s). Open Wheel Modified (8 starts, 1 win, 5 top 5s, 8 top 10s). Super Late Model (13 starts, 1 top 5, 6 top 10s).
* 2013: Open Wheel Modified (5 starts, 1 win, 3 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts. 2 top 10s).
* 2014: 4 wins and one other top 5 in Open Wheel Modified.
* 2015: Won at Volusia Speedway Park during the DIRTCar Nationals in his No. 41 open-wheel modified.
* 2016: Made seven starts and earned five top 5s and two other top-10 finishes.
AUSTIN DILLON
The older Dillon brother--he's 27, Ty is 25--almost didn't make racing his career.
Austin was a noted baseball player in North Carolina, including having played in the 2002 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
He also starred in baseball in high school, but upon graduating he turned his entire focus on racing--and the rest is history.
Dillon actually started racing during his prep baseball career, racing Bandoleros in 2005 at the age of 15. He did so well that he quickly moved up to Legends Cars.
A big step was when he attended Shane McDowell's dirt track driving school in 2006--starting a racing partnership that is now in its 12th year.
Dillon learned his lessons at McDowell's school well and quickly continued up racing's fast track and began driving Late Models throughout the Southeast by the time he was 16.
He made his NASCAR debut in 2008 at the age of 18 in the K&N Pro Series East class and also ran his first race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
One year later, he made his Camping World Truck Series debut and hit the sport's top level, the NASCAR Cup Series, for the first time in 2011.
Some of Austin Dillon's key grassroots racing career highlights:
* 2005: Began racing in Bandolero Mini Cars and Legends Cars series.
* 2006: Began dirt racing in late models and modifieds.
* 2007: Won All-Star Shootout at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Crate Late Model (9 starts, 3 wins, 4 top 5s).
* 2008: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 top5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (10 starts, 2 wins, 6 top 5s, 8 top 10s). Crate Late Models (2 wins, 4 top 5s). Late Model racing at Greenville-Pickens Speedway (13 starts, 1 win, 10 top 10s). Moved up to K&N Pro Series East, won Rookie of the Year honors for finishing second in final standings (13 starts, 1 win, 6 top 5s, 10 top 10s).
* 2009: Won second All-Star Shootout at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Won the dirt Fastrak Crate Nationals at Wythe Raceway (VA). ARCA (2 starts, 2 runner-up finishes). Open Wheel Modified (2 wins, 5 top 5s). Super Late Model (17 starts, 2 top 5s, 11 top 10s). Crate Late Models (3 starts, 3 wins).
* 2010: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 win, 3 top 5s). Super Late Model (18 starts, 2 wins, 8 top 10s). Set Fast Time at the World 100, Eldora Speedway in Eldora OH.
* 2011: Finished 8th in Prelude to the Dream at Eldora. Won opening night of Southern Nationals at Wythe Raceway (VA). Finished 9th in World 100 at Eldora. Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 2 wins, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (17 starts, 2 wins, 8 top 5s, 12 top 10s).
* 2012: Open Wheel Modified (7 starts, 1 win, 4 top 5s, 5 top 10s). Super Late Models (10 starts, 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Part of the Shane McDowell team that combined for 85 races in 13 different stats with 10 wins, 34 top 5s, and 45 top 10s). Finished second in the UMP DIRTcar Nationals Open Wheel Modified points Championship for third straight year at Volusia Speedway Park (FL). Set Fast Time at Prelude to the Dream and finished third.
* 2013: Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts, 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Won inaugural Mudsummer Classic in Camping World Truck Series at Eldora Speedway.
* 2014: Open Wheel Modified (5 starts, 1 win, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s). Super Late Model (4 starts, 3 top 5s).
* 2015: In six starts during season-opening week at Volusia Speedway, won three races, including the Gator Championship and also DIRTCar National Points Championship. Open Wheel Modified (4 starts, 1 top 5, 3 top 10s).