Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Strong 2014 at Daytona gives Austin Dillon confidence heading into 2015 Daytona 500

Austin Dillon is 30/1 to win Daytona 500
Austin Dillon
No. 3 Dow Chevrolet SS
Race Notes and Quotes:

This Week’s Dow Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway
… Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 493 in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. This is a new Chevrolet SS that will also be utilized for Thursday’s Duels.

Dillon at Daytona … Dillon earned his career-best finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway last July finishing fifth in the Coke Zero 400. With two Daytona 500 starts to his credit, Dillon has one top-10 finish and one pole award in the Great American Race. In four XFINITY Series starts at the 2.5-mile restrictor-plate track, Dillon has three top-five finishes with a best finish of fourth in July 2012. He also has two NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the track.

One Year Ago … Dillon earned his career-first Sprint Cup Series pole award with a lap of 196.019 mph (45.914 seconds) for last year’s race. It marked the fourth time the No. 3 has won the pole for the Daytona 500 and its 67th Sprint Cup Series pole, overall.

Welcome, Dow … Returning primary sponsor of the No.3 Chevrolet SS, Dow enters its second season with RCR and driver Austin Dillon. Together, both teams embrace the power of science, technology and safety as RCR tests Dow products under the most strenuous conditions. Dow also drives innovation to help address many of the world’s most challenging problems, bringing a broad range of sustainable products and solutions to customers in nearly 180 countries with more than 6,000 products manufactured across the globe. See our YouTube video “Dawn to Dusk” to see how Dow products touch the lives of everyone…from dawn to dusk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSspiG8DkOs). More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com

Weather Tech … Automotive floor mat manufacturer WeatherTech®, headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois has long been recognized by the discerning automotive enthusiast as a supplier of accessories of unparalleled quality. In addition to the WeatherTech® brand, the company supplies products to many automobile manufacturers (OEM) as an original equipment supplier. WeatherTech automotive accessories can be ordered online at http://www.WeatherTech.com, by calling 1-800-CAR-MATS (1-800-441-6287) or by visiting the WeatherTech Retail Store at 1 MacNeil Court, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60440.

Time to Duel … The Duel at Daytona features two 150-mile races from which the majority of the final starting grid for the Daytona 500 will be set. By virtue of qualifying ninth in last Sunday’s qualifying session, Dillon will start fourth in the second qualifying race on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Brotherly Love … When Dillon takes the green flag in Sunday’s Daytona 500, he will be joined by his younger brother, fulltime XFINITY Series driver Ty Dillon. The younger Dillon is making his career-first Daytona 500 start in the No. 33 Cheerios Chevrolet.

RCR Salutes … The No. 3 Dow Chevrolet team pit box sports a patriotic theme this season in homage to the United States military current service members, and the memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. On Sunday, the team honors NASCAR Troops to the Track visitors from the U.S. Navel Forces Southern Command/U.S. Fourth Fleet stationed at Mayport Navel Station in Jacksonville, Florida, along with Gunnery Sergeant Jason Anderson, a 23-year veteran of the Marine Corps whose service has included eight deployments as a 2141 Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) Repairer/Technician. The team will also Honor and Remember U.S. Army First Lt. Todd W. Weaver (10/22/1983-9/9/2010; Afghanistan), whose family will be in attendance at the Daytona 500. Lt. Weaver was assigned to 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky., and was killed in action in Kandahar, Afghanistan on September 9, 2010, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Weaver graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from the College of William and Mary in 2008, and was a graduate of Bruton High School in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Dirt Tracking and Double Duty … Dillon’s 2015 Speedweeks started on Feb. 10 at Volusia Speedway Park where he and his brother, Ty, began a week-long stint racing dirt Modifieds as part of the 43rd annual University of Northwestern Ohio DIRTCar Nationals. He is also pulling double duty at Daytona International Speedway where he is competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet on Saturday, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the No. 3 Dow Chevrolet on Sunday. Saturday’s XFINITY Series race is live on FOX Sports 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET while Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race is live on FOX beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:

How intense and mentally draining is it to sit behind the wheel of a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for four hours racing two- and three-wide?

“It’s definitely intense, it’s Daytona. Everybody talks about the Daytona 500 and when that opportunity comes around you have to be there. I hope a lot of the fans come out and enjoy the new things they are doing at Daytona. The Daytona Rising project is spectacular. It’s an important step to propel our sport into the future and I’m looking forward to it. It’s just going to add to the effect of being at the Daytona 500. There’s always drama at Daytona, something happens and it starts our year off well. I think that’s what’s cool about our sport. We start the year off with a bang, and then we ride that momentum for a while.”

- Richard Childress Racing

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