Dillon living up to family heritage despite late start
Childress grandson leads Camping World East points
By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
July 1, 2008

Despite countless soccer games, dozens of baseball bats and stacks of football pads, Tina Dillon still ended up the mom of a racer.

Not begrudgingly, just unexpectedly.

Her son, Austin Dillon, had gone most of his childhood and adolescence without showing any interest in going fast or anything that required wheels. The North Carolina native worshiped the Atlanta Braves and idolized John Wayne.


He comes from a famous racing family, and he's also driving a famous racing number.


This was the case until Austin and his brother, Ty, were driving with their family one day and saw a Bandolero car riding on the back of a trailer. Curiosity was brewing and a call was put into grandfather stating, "Pop-Pop, we're ready to [go] racing."

Tina Dillon cringed ever so slightly and thought, 'maybe this will help Austin when he goes to get his driver's license."

"That's how I justified it in my mind," recalled Tina of her decision to sign off on Austin's first Bandolero race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "This will be just for fun."

And the fun hasn't stopped since.

Three years later, her 18-year-old son is well on his way to the big leagues of NASCAR, an arena Tina and her family were born into.

Daughter of a racer, wife of a racer and now mother of a racer, Tina's father is Richard Childress and she is married to Mike Dillon, former NASCAR driver and now manager of competition for RCR. By the end of the year, she could potentially see her son Austin behind the wheel of a Nationwide Series car fielded by RCR.

"This was not the plan," Tina said. "I never envisioned we would be here. We're all still in the 'pinch me' phase. Even though Austin grew up in a racing family, we never said, 'hey you're going to be a driver.'"

And proving he has the ability to be a driver long-term has seemingly come with ease as Austin debuted in NASCAR's Camping World Series East this year with a win in the season-opening event at Greenville Pickens Speedway. Since the victory, Austin has remained the series' points leader and has three top-fives and two pole awards.

In the first four events of the 2008 season, he ran with Andy Santerre Motorsports, but after the June event at Watkins Glen International, Austin chose to join his family operation, Team Dillon Racing, under the Richard Childress Racing umbrella in Welcome, N.C.

"It's more convenient for everyone and now I can be at the shop everyday helping to build and work on the cars," Austin said.
NASCAR Camping World Series


The transition was smooth and in his debut with the family team, Austin brought home a fourth-place finish in the Heluva Good 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Austin will finish out the Camping World Series East season and continue to run a handful of dirt late-model races.

"It seems like I've been in a different car almost every weekend and I've been in a car for 13 straight weekends and that's what I need to do," Austin said. "I'll drive anything. It's helping my transition from dirt to asphalt."

He's looking for any and all experience as Austin's racing resume is short by today's standards. NASCAR's future stars begin racing their tricycles in driveways.

Austin's racing career began just three years ago; a career that contrasts with rookie sensation Joey Logano, 18, who started racing Quarter Midgets at age 6. Though a late starter, Austin went on in 2006 to race Legend cars and dirt late-model the same year.

Austin's first big victory came the following year in the 25-lap Goodyear Fastrak Challenge late-model feature at the dirt track at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May 2007. Now, in the Camping World Series East, Austin is a prime candidate for rookie of the year honors and perhaps a championship.

But somehow, Austin knew all along he would be a racer, despite his mother's best efforts to open every door, outside of racing, possible.

"We always loved racing and I played baseball and soccer and tried other sports when I was younger, but I'm where we thought I'd end up," Austin said. "That's where we always hoped to be, because it's a family sport."

A family sport where Austin has fond memories: Dale Earnhardt's Daytona 500 Victory Lane celebration in 1998; conversations with Buckshot Jones out on the racing grid; and Saturday night racing on the dirt with his father.
“
[Childress] always told me if I get into trouble, stay in the gas. And always make stuff happen.
”


Still, his mother is there to make sure her son has every foreseeable opportunity available, which includes college. The same weekend he ran at Watkins Glen, Austin also took his SAT exam for college placement.

"We are trying to balance everything," Tina said. "We are still filling out college applications because we want him to look at all the opportunities. But at the end of the day, it's going to be up to him."

In the meantime, Austin and his racing family are enjoying the moment.

His brother, Ty, 16, races dirt cars for Team Dillon Racing and the two brothers share responsibilities at the race shop.

When they're not consumed with their own racing careers, they interrogate their father on who could potentially fill the fourth Cup car at RCR in 2009.

Just don't be surprised if one day Austin negotiates a contract to drive that fourth car from a deer stand in Texas with his grandfather. Both Austin and his younger brother acquired a knack for hunting from their grandfather and have taken several trips inside and outside the United States. Some of the best conversations between Childress and his grandsons have taken place camped out in a field or camouflaged by a grassy knoll.

Throughout the years, Austin said his grandfather has imparted invaluable knowledge to both him and Ty.

But what Dillon appreciates most is the advice his grandfather gave him that is applicable both to racing and hunting; advice applicable at times to life itself.

"He's always told me if I get into trouble, stay in the gas," Austin said. "And always make stuff happen."

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway