Austin Dillon roars to first Nationwide win at Kentucky, nabs points lead

Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Chevrolet, performs a burnout to celebrate winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Feed The Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway on June 29, 2012 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Chevrolet, performs a burnout to celebrate winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series Feed The Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway on June 29, 2012 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Tyler Barrick/Getty Images for NASCAR)

SPARTA, Ky. — In his 26th Nationwide Series start — in his first full season in the series — Austin Dillon administered an emphatic, definitive, no-doubt-about-it beating to 42 also-rans in Friday night’s Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

How decisive was Dillon’s first Nationwide victory? Consider this:

Dillon led 192 of 200 laps, most ever by a Nationwide race winner at the 1.5-mile track.

He beat runner-up Kurt Busch to the finish line by 9.828 seconds.

Dillon and seven other drivers finished on the lead lap, despite a mass wave-around for a restart on Lap 150 after the second caution of the race.

When that caution interrupted a series of green-flag pit stops, after Dillon had built a lead of more than seven seconds, he simply ran away from the field after the restart.

Just after the halfway point, on Lap 106, Dillon put Elliott Sadler, the series leader entering the race, a lap down. With his dominating win, Dillon wrested the points lead from Sadler and carries a two-point cushion to Daytona, site of a July 6 Nationwide race.

Dillon’s first taste of the Nationwide points lead may not last for long. His car failed post-race inspection after being ruled too low in the rear. Potential penalties — which could include a deduction of points — are expected to be announced early next week.

Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier completed the top five. For Annett, it was his first top-five finish in 120 Nationwide starts.

“I was loose the whole race,” said Dillon, grandson of team owner Richard Childress. “I’d just get looser and looser, and I was really driving as straight as I could not to slip the tires. I just kind of back-steered the whole race.

“That last adjustment, he (crew chief Danny Stockman) got me tight enough to fire off (the corners) really good. We knew Kurt was good, but our car was just stronger.”

The car Dillon drove was a black No. 3 Chevrolet, reminiscent of the car Dale Earnhardt Sr. drove for Childress until his death in the 2001 Daytona 500.

“Dale would have been proud,” an emotional Childress said after the race.

Busch thought he would be able to gain ground on Dillon during the final green-flag run, but it didn’t work out that way.

“Austin Dillon, he was in his own zip code,” Busch said. “So congratulations to him, Richard Childress, those guys. It’s neat to see that kid develop. I thought we could battle with him. I expected to lose some ground to him early in the run. I expected he would be quicker than us for 20 laps.

“I thought that we would level out after 10 more, and I thought we could reel him in with 20 to go and put on a show for the fans here in Kentucky — and he was just too strong tonight. . . . He just had that car dialed in. There was nothing that we could do.”

In fact, Busch got as close as 4.1 seconds behind during the final 51-lap run, but he dropped a cylinder in the closing laps and fell back but held second place.

RACE RESULTS

1.  (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $97,068.
2.  (8) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 200, $51,825.
3.  (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, $36,275.
4.  (9) Michael Annett, Ford, 200, $33,993.
5.  (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, $29,943.
6.  (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 200, $26,168.
7.  (3) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 200, $18,325.
8.  (5) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 200, $25,468.
9. (12) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 199, $22,543.
10. (13) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 199, $23,193.
11. (26) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 198, $21,468.
12. (11) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 198, $20,943.
13. (25) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 198, $13,925.
14. (10) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 198, $19,868.
15. (14) Ryan Blaney, Chevrolet, 198, $14,150.
16. (20) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 198, $19,418.
17. (17) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 197, $19,293.
18. (24) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 197, $19,143.
19. (42) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 196, $19,018.
20. (18) Josh Richards, Ford, 196, $13,100.
21. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 196, $18,968.
22. (19) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 195, $18,643.
23. (33) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 195, $18,493.
24. (16) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 195, $18,343.
25. (35) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 193, $18,343.
26. (40) Eric McClure, Toyota, 193, $18,398.
27. (37) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, 192, $11,475.
28. (23) Tanner Berryhill, Toyota, 192, $11,355.
29. (41) Jamie Mosley, Chevrolet, 182, $17,688.
30. (15) Brian Scott, Toyota, Engine, 176, $17,878.
31. (34) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, Accident, 143, $17,468.
32. (30) Timmy Hill, Ford, Rear Gear, 141, $17,358.
33.  (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Engine, 132, $10,785.
34. (27) Danny Efland, Chevrolet, Ignition, 103, $17,143.
35. (36) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Fuel Pressure, 48, $10,560.
36. (39) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, Wheel Bearing, 32, $10,525.
37. (29) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Ignition, 11, $10,475.
38. (32) Tim Andrews, Ford, Rear Gear, 10, $10,431.
39. (31) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, Ignition, 6, $10,295.
40. (38) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Vibration, 5, $10,210.
41. (43) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, Engine, 5, $10,150.
42. (28) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 4, $10,120.
43. (22) Scott Speed, Chevrolet, Engine, 2, $10,053.

RACE STATISTICS

Average Speed of Race Winner: 151.643 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 58 Mins, 42 Secs.
Margin of Victory:  9.828 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 2 for 12 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Dillon 1-81; R. Stenhouse Jr. 82; M. Annett 83; J. Allgaier 84-86; A. Dillon 87-141; M. Annett 142-143; J. Allgaier 144; A. Dillon 145-200.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): A. Dillon 3 times for 192 laps; J. Allgaier 2 times for 4 laps; M. Annett 2 times for 3 laps; R. Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: A. Dillon – 554; E. Sadler – 552; R. Stenhouse Jr. – 531; S. Hornish Jr. – 521; J. Allgaier – 481; C. Whitt – 472; M. Annett – 455; M. Bliss – 391; D. Patrick – 369; B. Scott – 353.

 

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.