Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet Team Have Strong Showing at Talladega Superspeedway Despite Early Finish
Finish: 39th
Start: 17th
Points: 18th
“The No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road/E-Z-GO Chevrolet was pretty solid. We had to work on our handling a little bit, but the balance was pretty good by Stage 3. You try to race at these speedways and keep yourself out front to put yourself in a good position, and that’s what I was doing. We barely missed stage points twice – 11th and 12th at the end of both Stages 1 and 2. We tried to work the middle groove, and when Chase Elliott got turned I was just the last man standing when he came up the track. It’s unfortunate, but it’s part of these races. I had a lot of fun out there. I think the package that NASCAR gave us was solid. There was some good racing out there. I’m looking forward to going to Daytona International Speedway, and coming back to Talladega Superspeedway. I feel like our speedway program is in a decent place, and my teammate Tyler Reddick leading laps was big. We’ll keep working. An unfortunate finish probably hurts us in the points, but there is a Pocono Raceway double-header next weekend and I think we’ll be solid.” -Austin Dillon
Tyler Reddick Wins Stage, Leads Laps in Realtree Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway
Finish: 20th
Start: 16th
Points: 16th
“We’re getting closer and closer to winning one of these races. We had a really fast No. 8 Realtree Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE today. We just needed a bigger fuel cell to make it through the closing laps without having to come to pit road. We were a little bit loose today, but our Chevy was able to suck up to others really well, which made it easier for me to work with people and show them that they can trust and work with me in return. It was awesome to get my first NASCAR Cup Series career Stage win, even if we had to wait out a brief rain shower for it. I think that showed a lot of people that we had really strong speed today. From there, we just played it smart and stayed out of trouble to be there in the closing laps. We managed to grab the lead with about 16 laps to go. It was tough to maintain the lead and save fuel since we knew we were right on the edge of making it. I thought maybe we would make it before that final caution came out, but then the No. 11 ran out of gas or had a bobble or something. Once he ran out, my main help was gone and the No. 12 was able to slide by as we slid back. But that is how it goes at plate-racing. Timing is everything. It was just chaos on that final restart, but we gave it everything we had. All in all, it was a great day. We were in the lead with a shot at the end, and that’s exactly where you want to be. I want to thank Realtree for letting me run their Timber camo pattern on my car, and I hope they enjoyed the show.” -Tyler Reddick
