WELCOME, N.C. -- Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet has moved in-house to Team Dillon Racing’s shops in Welcome, N.C.
The 18-year-old Lewisville, N.C., driver, the grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner Richard Childress, competed in the season's first four events with Andy Santerre Motorsports, which is based in Harrisburg, N.C.
Dillon won his NASCAR Camping World Series debut in the season opener at Greenville-Pickens [S.C.] Speedway, and has two top fives and three top 10s in four starts while based in ASM’s shops, therefore, performance was not an issue. He also earned the Coors Light Pole Award in the combination race with the NASCAR Camping World Series West at Iowa Speedway.
“For most of the guys on our team, it was an hour drive to Harrisburg everyday,” Dillon said. “If we needed parts, or our crew chief Lance Deiters needed anything at all from the Team Dillon Racing shops, we were using hours every day driving between shops. We got off to a great start with ASM. I like to work on the cars myself, so for all of us the move is just for the better.”
Dillon's father, Mike Dillon, owner of Team Dillon Racing which has been created by Richard Childress Racing as a driver and crew development program, said the partnership with Santerre gave his team a great start. Also, Dillon, Richard Childress Racing's director of competition, indicated the change of base for his son’s NASCAR Camping World Series East team has been seamless.
“We’ve got our same team, our same crew chief and our same cars,” Mike Dillon said. “It’s just a change in where we work everyday, and now we’re closer to home. Our younger son, Ty, started racing in 2006 and we expect him to move up next year, so it just made sense for 2009 to bring our program in-house now and keep building from there.”
Ty Dillon, who will turn 17 next February, has been racing and winning in Bandoleros, Legends and dirt Late Models over the past two years, following the same development course as his brother, Austin.
Santerre, who as a driver won an unprecedented four consecutive NASCAR Camping World Series East championships, 2002-2005, called the change “a tough decision” that in the end benefits young Dillon’s future.
“We’ve had great success with Austin, and he’s a great driver,” Santerre said. “We think he’ll move up rather rapidly. Ty is coming up behind him, too. There was a lot of equipment, parts, and crewmen moving between Welcome and Harrisburg every day. Mike and I started re-evaluating what we were doing after Watkins Glen [the series June 8 event], and came to a tough decision. In the end, it was better for Team Dillon Racing to move to their home base in Welcome.”
Andy Santerre Motorsports moves forward as a one-car operation for the foreseeable future, with driver Peyton Sellers, 24, of Danville, Va., in his No. 44 Casella Waste Systems Chevrolets.
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06-28-2008, 12:55 PM
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