Austin Dillon holds a special place in his heart for Iowa Speedway — it was at that track on July 11, 2010, where he won his first NASCAR national touring series race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
This Saturday he arrives in Iowa for the DuPont Pioneer 250 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) three years wiser, three years more experienced and running full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. By the end of the race, he hopes to have improved upon his best finish of fourth, which he posted in last season’s edition of the race.
Dillon has traditionally qualified well in Iowa with an average starting position of 7.0 in four series starts. He’s started in the third position twice. He and his team, however, aren’t as pleased with their finishes — 28th, 10th, fourth and 15th.
“Iowa Speedway is a place where we have given away a few races,” Dillon said. “Going there this year, I’ve always been pretty strong there and hopefully we can capitalize this year.”
Among the series regulars earning championship points, he’s near the top in driver rating (94.2), green passes (117) and fastest laps (73).
After 11 races, he is currently ranked fifth in the standings, 53 points behind leader Regan Smith. Dillon has two top-five and six top-10 finishes; his best finish is a third at Texas. He started the last two races (Charlotte and Dover) from the pole and went on to post 14th- and eighth-place finishes, respectively.
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Next Race: DuPont Pioneer 250
The Place: Iowa Speedway
The Date: Saturday, June 8
The Time: 8 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
Distance: 218.75 miles (250 laps)
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.
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