Volunteer Speedway
Dillon outruns Rogers, wins $2,000 at Volunteer
By Robert Walden
Volunteer Speedway
Austin Dillon (3) takes second. (pbase.com/wellsracingphoto)
BULLS GAP, Tenn. (June 21) — Austin Dillon, the grandson of legendary NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, grabbed his first Super Late Model victory at Volunteer Speedway in the 40-lap Showdown at the Gap. The 18-year-old driver from Lewisville, N.C., overtook polesitter Rick Rogers on lap 34 and led the rest of the way to earn $2,000. Dillon was followed across the stripe by Rogers, Buckingham, Mark Vineyard and 17th-starting John Gill.
“Man, was that an exciting race or what?” exclaimed the jubilant teenager after climbing from his car in victory lane onto the roof with his arms stretched high. “This was a very strong field of cars here tonight, and the way (Rogers) jumped out to such a commanding lead early in the race I was just kind of hoping to be able to get around Buckingham for second place. There on the double-file restart I knew that was my time to go … to try and get past Buckingham for second. We raced off hard into the first turn and I got around him and I really thought with a clear track ahead I might have something for Rogers."
Rogers and Buckingham led the 23-car field to the green with Rogers jumping into the lead over Buckingham with Brad Neat, Dillon and Tommy Kerr in tow. Neat's run, however, ended on the ninth lap with mechanical problems.
With Rogers flexing his muscle out front, Dillon quickly closed to the rear bumper of Buckingham and began pressuring him for the runner-up position. Behind them, the action was heated among Kerr, Mark Douglas, Vineyard, Bryan Hendrix, Kerry Jones, 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, and Vic “The Thrill” Hill. Vineyard passed Douglas for fifth on lap 12, and one circuit later he advanced to fourth in the running order by moving past Kerr. Douglas quickly moved back into the top five by passing Kerr for fifth on lap 14, and with the door open Hendrix seized the opportunity and moved past Kerr taking over the sixth spot.
With Hill, Scott James, Elliott and Mike Smith all running in tight quarters battling for position, James and Hill made contact racing hard into the third turn on lap 17. The contact sent Hill sliding up the track between turns three and four. After reeling his mount back in, Hill was hard on the throttle when he and Elliott tangled in the fourth turn, which ended the night for Elliott with front-end damage to his car.
With the field lining up for a double-file restart, Rogers was all alone out front with Buckingham and Dillon side-by-side just behind. Rogers accelerated off the fourth turn with the waving of the green, with Buckingham and Dillon racing hard off into the first turn battling for second. Driving in hard on the bottom, young Dillon made his car stick and racing off the second turn he moved past Buckingham and set his sights on Rogers.
As Rogers began working lapped traffic, Dillon closed to his rear bumper. Using a strong run racing off the bottom of turn two, Dillon pulled alongside Rogers down the backstretch into the third turn. Dillon powered around Rogers racing off the fourth turn on lap 34, and once out front he never looked back en route to sprinting to the checkers.
Notes: Dillon's GRT Race Car has a Clements Racing Engine and sponsorship from Camping World, RVs.com, Garage Equipment Supply, No Fear, Team Realtree, J-Bar Foods and Hummers Gone Wild. ... Runner-up Rick Rogers was fresh off his first Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series victory the previous night in Crossville, Tenn. ... Third-finishing Shanon Buckingham won the Fastrak Racing Series companion event, which also paid $2,000 to the winner. ... Among the drivers on hand were some Lucas Oil Series regulars (Scott James and Justin Rattliff) who had been rained out at an event in Fayetteville, N.C.
Showdown at the Gap: (1) Austin Dillon, (2) Rick Rogers, (3) Shanon Buckingham, (4) Mark Vineyard, (5) John Gill, (6) Bryan Hendrix, (7) Scott James, (8) Justin Rattliff, (9) Mark Douglas, (10) Kerry Jones, (11) Mike Smith, (12) Tommy Kerr, (13) Shon Flanary, (14) Bobby Mays, (15) Dale Ball, (16) John King II, (17) Barry Arnold, (18) Vic Hill, (19) John Tweed, (20) Bill Elliott, (21) Travis Greer, (22) Brad Neat, (23) Herman Goddard.
