Austin Dillon Finishes Third at Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR XFINITY Series – O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
November 7, 2015 – Texas Motor Speedway – Forth Worth, TX

Austin Dillon and the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet team finished third at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon despite falling a lap down to the leaders in the early portion of the race. After rain showers blanketed the area early Saturday morning and saturated the racing surface with water, NASCAR XFINITY Series was canceled and the starting line-up was set per the rulebook, placing Dillon on the pole for the start of the 200-lap race. The Welcome, N.C.,-native remained a fixture within the top five of the running order until lap 76 when Dillon reported to the Rheem team he had a tire going flat. Danny Stockman called Dillon to pit road under green flag conditions for four tires, fuel and a small chassis adjustment. While on pit road, Dillon fell one lap down to the leaders as the caution flag was displayed as he was leaving pit road. Dillon was able to take the wave-around and restart on the lead lap in the 18th position on the ensuing start. The Richard Childress Racing team climbed their way back into the top five with 40 laps to go. On the final caution flag of the evening, the Stockman-led team visited pit road for tires and a chassis adjustment. A quick stop by the Rheem pit crew allotted Dillon the top spot for the restart. Dillon led the field until lap 190 when he battled three-wide for position and slipped to third where he would take the checkered flag.

Man, we had a fast Rheem Chevrolet. I thought we were good there at the end but we got too tight and the (No.) 22 had a run on us and got by. We definitely had a car to win this thing but came up a little short. It’s nothing to hang our heads at after driving back up through the field when we had to pit early. I thought I had a tire going down and didn’t want to chance any damage. I knew we had a fast car and could get back to the front of the field. These boys work really hard, and I’m confident we’ll get us another one before the end of the year. – Austin Dillon

Start – 1, Finish – 3, Laps Led – 54, Owner’s Points – 4