Pressure, what pressure? Austin Dillon might ask that question rhetorically.
The grandson of NASCAR giant, Richard Childress, is moving up, getting his first Sprint Cup ride later this year.
The second year Camping World Truck Driver has been given a chance to make his first race in a Sprint Cup event thanks to collaboration with Mike Curb.
The only problem is that NASCAR testing policy prohibits testing, for the most part, at tracks where NASCAR has points paying races.
That leaves the 20-year old with a little problem of how to prepare to make the move.
“The tough part is that you can’t test,” explained Dillon. “It makes it tougher, you try to We’re going to Rockingham,” a former Cup level track that’s off the circuit.
Still it’s likely that Dillon first Cup race, still to be announced, will be at a one-and-one-half mile track. “There’s nowhere you can test that give you the feel of the 1.5 mile,” Dillon added that the only place he can try out is on the older less-used tracks thus “the grip levels are much higher,” at the regular tracks.
Much like a fan he’s going to watch videos and do some heavy workouts to “get in physical shape to compete against the best of the best.
Dillon has one other advantage; he can count on the four full-time Richard Childress Racing Sprint Cup drivers for tutoring. In particular “Kevin (Harvick) and Clint (Bowyer) they really help a lot. Learning what it takes to run against those guys is a learning experience.”
And there was a surprise. Five-time and defending Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, was impressed with the announcement of the deal which has Dillon sponsored by The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation's Centennial Celebration and the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma as primary sponsors.
As Dillon recalls “the biggest thing guys like Jimmie Johnson came up to me and talked,” offering any assistance.
The car will be the No. 98 Agajanian-Curb Chevrolet. Like the famous “3” which Childress ran the late Dale Earnhardt in, before his grandson went to trucks the “98” has history. On the Agajanian side IndyCar driver Parnelli Jones burned up the tracks in “98.”
On the NASCAR side the #98 driver Lee Roy Yarborough was the only driver to win the Daytona 500, the Rebel 400 at Darlington and the World 600 in the same season.
For now Dillon is focused on the truck series where he’s seventh in the standings in the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.
The grandson of NASCAR giant, Richard Childress, is moving up, getting his first Sprint Cup ride later this year.
The second year Camping World Truck Driver has been given a chance to make his first race in a Sprint Cup event thanks to collaboration with Mike Curb.
The only problem is that NASCAR testing policy prohibits testing, for the most part, at tracks where NASCAR has points paying races.
That leaves the 20-year old with a little problem of how to prepare to make the move.
“The tough part is that you can’t test,” explained Dillon. “It makes it tougher, you try to We’re going to Rockingham,” a former Cup level track that’s off the circuit.
Still it’s likely that Dillon first Cup race, still to be announced, will be at a one-and-one-half mile track. “There’s nowhere you can test that give you the feel of the 1.5 mile,” Dillon added that the only place he can try out is on the older less-used tracks thus “the grip levels are much higher,” at the regular tracks.
Much like a fan he’s going to watch videos and do some heavy workouts to “get in physical shape to compete against the best of the best.
Dillon has one other advantage; he can count on the four full-time Richard Childress Racing Sprint Cup drivers for tutoring. In particular “Kevin (Harvick) and Clint (Bowyer) they really help a lot. Learning what it takes to run against those guys is a learning experience.”
And there was a surprise. Five-time and defending Sprint Cup champ Jimmie Johnson, was impressed with the announcement of the deal which has Dillon sponsored by The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation's Centennial Celebration and the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma as primary sponsors.
As Dillon recalls “the biggest thing guys like Jimmie Johnson came up to me and talked,” offering any assistance.
The car will be the No. 98 Agajanian-Curb Chevrolet. Like the famous “3” which Childress ran the late Dale Earnhardt in, before his grandson went to trucks the “98” has history. On the Agajanian side IndyCar driver Parnelli Jones burned up the tracks in “98.”
On the NASCAR side the #98 driver Lee Roy Yarborough was the only driver to win the Daytona 500, the Rebel 400 at Darlington and the World 600 in the same season.
For now Dillon is focused on the truck series where he’s seventh in the standings in the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.