Eldora Speedway

Dillon fastest among 134 cars at 40th World 100

September 11, 2010, 12:58 am

By Todd Turner

DirtonDirt.com chief writer

Austin Dillon topped 134 qualifiers. (thesportswire.net)

ROSSBURG, Ohio (Sept. 10) — Austin Dillon is a member of a famous NASCAR family and an up-and-coming NASCAR driver, but the 20-year-old's dirt racing exploits were front and center Friday at Eldora Speedway as he topped 134 qualifiers for the 40th annual World 100.

Dillon's lap of 15.390 seconds on the half-mile oval was less than two-tenths of a second off the track record to guarantee his first start in Dirt Late Model racing's most prestigious event. | Complete World 100 coverage

"This is a dream come true," said Dillon, who drives on NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series for his grandfather's Richard Childress Racing team. "I've gotten four poles this year on the truck series, and I think this one right here might rank up there with one of those."

Dillon's lap came early in the first round of time trials and no one else got within two-tenths of a second of the lap. The only bad news? Dillon spun the heat-race inversion wheel following two complete rounds of time trials and hit a six, meaning he'll start outside the third row of the first heat races on Saturday that precede the $43,000-to-win main event.

But Eldora's format guarantees the two fastest qualifiers a spot in the main event, meaning Dillon and second-fast Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., will rest a little easier tonight than the other 120 drivers in six heat races.

"The good thing is we're locked in. We're going to go out there and use it almost as a test session," Dillon said. "Driving it into the show would be great, but that first heat's always wild out here, They don't really pack the track in good, so it's a little slippery."

Dillon's success spread to teammate Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., who was the sixth fastest qualifier, and dirt racing mentor Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who was 11th quick.

Richards, 22, struggled on his first qualifying lap but got up on the wheel for a 15.591-second lap at the Tony Stewart-owned track in western Ohio.

"The track was a little hairy that first lap. I guess I was a little bit of a girl that first lap, and we kind of rode around there," Richards said. "My guys were yelling at me, 'How come you didn't go up there to the top?' So in the second lap I was either going to go for it — or end up needing to fix the car.

"Luckily we went out early in the second round, and they packed the track so it was a lot smoother, and I just got up there and got with it, and we got us a good time."

Among other top qualifiers were '99 World 100 winner Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky. (third at 15.651 seconds), '08 winner Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga. (fourth at 15.691 seconds) and Don O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind. (fifth at 15.694 seconds), a driver who's been in big-race contention at Eldora but hasn't broken through.

A pair of Hall of Famers and pre-race favorites didn't qualify as well. Three-time race winner Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., was just 38th fastest and will start in the fourth row of a heat race, while Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., winner of June's $100,000-to-win Dream at Eldora, was just 45th quick and finds himself in the fifth row of a heat.

Saturday's action starts at 7 p.m. with six heat races, which transfers three drivers apiece to the main event. Four drivers from each of two consolation races also transfer to the 28-car field for 100-lap main event. Heat race lineups aren't released by Eldora officially until 9 a.m. Saturday.

The top 120 qualifiers are locked into heat races while 11 other drivers ran in a non-qualifiers' race. April Farmer of Livingston, Tenn., won the $400 race, the first female to visit victory lane at Eldora.