- As a prelude to the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon and fueler Tyler Rader spent the day learning from and training alongside members of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, covering weapons systems, paratrooper training exercises and flight simulators
- Tickets for Coca-Cola 600 weekend are still available online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com
FORT, BRAGG, N.C. (May 8, 2026) — Continuing Charlotte Motor Speedway’s month-long Mission 600 campaign, a prelude to the 67th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Austin Dillon and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Tyler Rader visited and trained alongside members of the 82nd Airborne division at Fort Bragg on Thursday.
Now in its eighth year, Mission 600 brings together NASCAR drivers with units from regional military bases in an effort to educate the NASCAR community about the day-to-day lives of the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces and to build meaningful connections between the worlds of motorsports and the military.
“Every time we come out on Mission 600, we get to meet some amazing people,” Dillon said. “Obviously, the military men and women who serve this country are elite humans and heroes of mine, so any time I get to spend time with them and chat about their job, it makes my day.”
During the visit, Dillon and Rader took part in live-fire exercises with a variety of weapons systems, including SIG Sauer pistols, M4 carbine rifles and an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). They also fired an M119 Howitzer and simulated paratrooper drills at the installation’s 34-foot jump tower before testing their aviation skills in high-tech simulators used to train pilots to fly AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.
“The Howitzer was honestly pretty crazy,” Rader said. “I’ve never really seen that. My time in regiment, we didn’t really have one of those. When those guys roll that up on the back of the Humvee, they’re like a pit crew coming out and getting that thing set up. They’re under a time crunch – I believe it was six minutes – that was pretty cool.”
The day served as a homecoming of sorts for Rader, who, between stints as a fueler for Richard Childress Racing, trained at Fort Bragg. Radar reconnected with First Sgt. Omar Melendez of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who previously served as a non-commissioned officer with Rader’s 1st Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in Savannah, Ga. For Melendez, Mission 600 provided an opportunity to find a lot of common ground between the military and the NASCAR teams from the importance of teamwork to the necessity of preparation.
“Everything we do is a rehearsal for combat; I imagine it’s the same way when you’re rehearsing for NASCAR,” Melendez said. “I know for us, we take that very seriously because we don’t get a vote on when the call comes. You only get a vote on how ready you are when you get there. It was cool to take guys that have that same mindset, like Austin, and kind of show them our side of how we rehearse and how important we take it.”
Mission 600 is scheduled to continue next week as Daniel Suarez visits Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. To date, the 2026 campaign has included visits by Chase Elliott to Marine Corp Air Station Beaufort and Ross Chastain to Arlington National Cemetery where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a tradition for the defending race winner to kick off national Military Appreciation Month. The military tributes will culminate during a rousing pre-race celebration ahead of the Coca-Cola 600.
“For me, the Coca-Cola 600 is my favorite weekend of the year,” Dillon said. “You get to see all the military braches represented. The national anthem, the flyover, the patriotism, getting to meet veterans and Gold Star Families, it puts everything in perspective.
TICKETS:
Fans are invited to witness the patriotic pre-race salute to the troops on Sunday, May 24 prior to the Coca-Cola 600. Visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com for tickets, schedules and more information on the weekend’s three days of action-packed racing. Kids 12 and under get in FREE on Friday and Saturday.
