Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track… With the NASCAR Cup Series taking to dirt for the first time since 1970, Richard Childress Racing will compete in the inaugural event at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Before the main feature on Sunday, Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick will run two 50-minute practice sessions and a qualifying heat to determine the starting lineup. Both Dillon and Reddick are armed with dirt backgrounds and have spent significant time preparing for this unique race with their teams.
Richard Childress Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway… While Sunday’s race will make history on the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt oval, Richard Childress Racing has found success on the half-mile’s typical concrete surface. In 179 NASCAR Cup Series starts, the Welcome, N.C. organization has scored nine wins, 35 top-five, and 71 top-10 finishes at the Tennessee short track.
Catch the Action… The NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race will be televised live Sunday, March 28, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and will be broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway… While this weekend marks the first NASCAR Cup Series race on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt configuration, Dillon has made 14 paved Cup starts at the track, earning one top-five and three top-10 finishes.
Winner, Winner… Dillon has won at Bristol Motor Speedway on both the paved and dirt configurations. In addition to winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track in August 2016 (paved), Dillon was among the first drivers to compete on the track’s dirt surface last week. He won two features and a heat race in dominating fashion in a 604 Crate Late Model for Corey Hedgecock Racing.
An Ace on Dirt… Dillon first began racing dirt late models in 2006 as the natural progression in his career after starting out in legend cars and bandoleros. Under the tutelage of Shane and Dale McDowell, notable dirt racing victories include the All-Star Shootout at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 2009 and May 2007).
About Tracker Off Road… Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE prominently features TRACKER ATVs, a game-changing new line of all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides offering breakthrough performance, service and value in the off-road industry. TRACKER OFF ROAD was born out of a powerhouse partnership formed between Bass Pro Shops and TRACKER founder Johnny Morris and Textron Specialized Vehicles, bringing together the undisputed world leader in boating with a global leader in innovation and technology.
About Bass Pro Shops… Bass Pro Shops is North America’s premier outdoor and conservation company. Founded in 1972 when avid young angler Johnny Morris began selling tackle out of his father’s liquor store in Springfield, Missouri, today the company provides customers with unmatched offerings spanning premier destination retail, outdoor equipment manufacturing, world-class resort destinations and more. In 2017 Bass Pro Shops acquired Cabela’s to create a “best-of-the-best” experience with superior products, dynamic locations and outstanding customer service. Bass Pro Shops also operates White River Marine Group, offering an unsurpassed collection of industry-leading boat brands, and Big Cedar Lodge, America’s Premier Wilderness Resort. Under the visionary conservation leadership of Johnny Morris, Bass Pro Shops is a national leader in protecting habitat and introducing families to the outdoors and has been named by Forbes as “one of America’s Best Employers.” Bass Pro Shops has a long relationship with NASCAR, dating back to 1998. For more information, visit .
AUSTIN DILLON QUOTES:
The configuration of the high banks on the Bristol dirt stands out. What are some other parts of the track that strikes you as either very similar or very different from dirt tracks that you’ve raced in the past?
“Well, I think the dirt itself is interesting. The type of dirt they choose to lay down on Bristol is not a dirt that you see in the Midwest; it’s a sandy-dirt. When you really get into the dirt track racing world, you start talking about the type of dirt that you’re racing on and certain dirt puts on better races, and certain dirt goes through different transitions than the other. The good thing is that the dirt, I feel like, came from a track that I kind of grew up racing around and I kind of know the transitions and what it takes, I think, to create speed throughout the transitions that it’s going to go through. So, if anything, maybe that helps me. But it’s not a dirt that I believe you’re going to see a cushion built; it doesn’t do that. This stuff kind of creates a fluff and it gets up there; you can gain grip because it might be wet up there for a while, but it’s not something that you can use as a curb to catch you, which is different. And I’m glad that it came from around here because I feel like I’ve ran on it a lot and know when it has grip and when it doesn’t.”
Does the weight of the cars play into your favor?
“From sprint cars to late models, I definitely think there’s some experience there that helps. Kyle (Larson), he’s driving late models now and doing really well. He about won the big race this past weekend in the super. The weight in those late models, they drive so much different than our Cup cars or a truck. A truck, from what I know in the past, the history that I have in my mind is that they are heavier. You don’t really drive them, I would say, like a late model or a sprint car. Definitely the weight is the biggest thing in the difference in how you drive.”
“Side force, too, I’ll throw that in there. Our cars don’t have the bodies that the late models and sprint cars have wings; they’re just built a lot different to rely on downforce.”
Talk about the importance of the practice session at Bristol.
“It will be nice to have some practice to just test and tune. I think the difference between an asphalt track and a dirt track is we have so many notes on things that we don’t do. A dirt track is where you can go to it with an open mindset and do things that you wouldn’t normally do to find speed and that’s what’s going to be fun for all of the crew chiefs, car chiefs and mechanics out there to really do things opposite. The thought process has to be so open-minded when we get there to the track. Not only are you worrying about the setup, but you’re worried about the car. Make sure the heights are right, you’re not rolling the nose under – there’s a lot of things that we do at a dirt track to just make the car go around the track. And then it might not always be like ‘hey, we needed just a little more wedge to be perfect’. It might be ‘we need more clearance so I don’t hit the track right here and get tight’. There’s a lot of fun stuff about the practice.”
“The heat races – they’ll be challenging. It’s a short amount of time and you’ll want to get as many passing points as you can. Your starting position matters at any type of racing level. The draw – I haven’t really looked into how that’s going to go down or where we start in the heat races yet. But I think the whole process is going to be fun. I was hoping we would go off of a regular race weekend and go off of the past race, because we would have a pretty good starting position after our run at Atlanta this past weekend, and I think starting up front would be really good for us. I’m not really worried about where we start in the dirt race because I feel like if you do your job and practice that you should be able to move forward through the race.”
“I watched the stock car race and I felt like the stock car race was probably one of the best races this past week when I was there at the Dirt Car Nationals, and that’s what I’m hoping you guys get to see from the Cup level. All the guys that are preparing the track – I’ve been in touch with some of those people, trying to just give feedback to give it the best show we can put on for all the fans out there. I think they’re prepared; I think the knowledge they gained form the Dirt Car Nationals last week will really go a long way when it comes down to it of what you see this coming week.”
Tyler Reddick and the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE at Bristol Motor Speedway… This weekend marks the first time the NASCAR Cup Series will be running on dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. Reddick does have two Cup Series starts at the track on the concrete surface, with his best finish of fourth coming during last fall’s event. Reddick also has five NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the track, winning the 2019 fall race with crew chief Randall Burnett, along with two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He also has two NASCAR Truck Series starts and two top-five finishes at Bristol.
Dirt Track Savvy… Both Reddick and his crew chief, Randall Burnett, came to NASCAR from dirt racing backgrounds. Reddick began racing on dirt at age four in Outlaw Karts before moving on to midgets, dirt late models and sprint cars. During that time, he became the youngest person to qualify on the pole for the World 100 at Eldora Speedway, as well as the youngest winner at the East Bay Winter Nationals and in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Burnett grew up in Fenton, Missouri, where he often built and raced his own late models at local tracks before moving out to attend school at UNC Charlotte. Burnett continues to be an avid dirt racing fan today.
iRacing Success… On Wednesday night, Reddick climbed behind the wheel of his virtual No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the kick-off event of the eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series. After advancing through his qualifying heat, Reddick rode the high line to a second-place finish in the main feature.
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TYLER REDDICK QUOTES:
While they weren’t NASCAR vehicles, what are your thoughts on Bristol Motor Speedway’s dirt surface after seeing the Bristol Dirt Nationals take place last week?
“I saw a lot of great racing and a really fast track for those divisions that ran last week. We saw a couple bumps develop in Turns 3 and 4, likely because of the rain, but overall it was a very fast track for those cars. That’s exciting to me because our Cup cars are so much heavier with more power and less tire underneath us, so we should have some great racing this weekend. I think one thing that will be interesting to see if it unfolds is if two lanes of competitive racing on the track will develop with the Cup cars at the same time. But regardless, from what I saw this past week, I think it’s going to be a good race. It was just really cool to watch. My crew chief, Randall Burnett, and I went up to Bristol last Friday afternoon to check it out, touch the dirt and really understand how it was going so far. To see how quick these late models were going was amazing. 250 laps is a lot for a dirt track, so the track will change quite a bit during the race on Sunday. It should be exciting for fans and I’m looking forward to being behind the wheel of the No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for it.”
What were some of the takeaways from your visit to Bristol last Friday on how the track has been prepared?
“There’s a lot of things to look at. The track says they took banking out, but it still has a lot of banking in it, so that was wild to see. There’s a lot of dirt on this racetrack, and it’s really incredible to see how they all brought it together. They had a lot of equipment out there and were trying a lot of things on the track this past week. I think it was great Bristol had that week of racing with so many different entries ahead of NASCAR’s weekend there. Bristol now has a better idea of what the track is going to do with so many different cars having been on it, that now they can get the track where they want it to be for us.”
