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Mike Dillon (racing driver)

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Mike Dillon
BornMichael Dillon
(1965-02-01) February 1, 1965 (age 59)
Lexington, North Carolina, U.S.
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish66th (1998)
First race1998 California 500 (Fontana)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
154 races run over 7 years
Best finish12th (1998)
First race1995 Sundrop 400 (Hickory)
Last race2001 Cheez-It 250 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
3 races run over 2 years
Best finish79th (1999)
First race1997 GM Goodwrench / Delco 300 (Phoenix)
Last race1999 DieHard 200 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Mike Dillon (born February 1, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver for Richard Childress Racing and the current general manager for the team after having raced in all three national series. He is the father of Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon and the son-in-law of Richard Childress.

Racing career

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Winston Cup Series

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Dillon made one Cup Series start in his career. Subbing for the injured Mike Skinner, he qualified the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet in the 27th position in the 1998 Fontana race. Dillon struggled in the race, finishing 35th, 11 laps down.

Dillon also competed in the 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 as a relief driver for Dale Earnhardt, finishing the race after Earnhardt blacked out on the first lap.

Busch Series

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Dillon made his NASCAR debut in 1995. That year he ran five of twenty-six races for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 12 Kennametal/Salem National Lease Chevrolet, making his debut at Hickory, where he started 12th and finished 16th. He would make his next start at Myrtle Beach, getting his first career top-10 starting spot of 9th, before leading 5 laps en route to a 17th-place finish. He would then follow it up with an 18th-place result at South Boston Speedway. Dillon crashed out of the other two races, with a 42nd at Charlotte and 29th at Rockingham. However, he did beat his best career start with an 8th place start in Charlotte.

Dillon ran for NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1996 in the No. 72 Detroit Gasket Chevy for Parker Racing, but only made 21 of 26 races and struggled to 23rd in points. He earned his first career top-10 of 10th at South Boston.

Dillon made all the races in 1997, and finished 15th in points. Still running in the #72, Dillon scored his first career top-5 at Dover. He also added on a pair of 6th and a 10th to have 4 top-10 finishes. Dillon set his career best start of 4th at Richmond, and also led 21 laps at Gateway before a late crash.

Dillon's best career season came in 1998. He had 2 top-5s and 7 top-10s en route to 12th in points. The two top-5s were a 4th at Hickory (led 54 laps) and a 5th at Watkins Glen International.

In 1999, he moved to the #59 Kingsford team owned by ST Motorsports. He did not qualify for two of the races and that relegated him to 16th in the final points. In addition, Dillon only had one top-10, with a 7th place coming at Watkins Glen. Despite the lack of top-10s, Dillon stayed in 16th in points largely because he finished all but two of his races.

In 2000, Dillon moved back to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), driving the newly formed #21 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. Dillon did not improve that much, as he did not qualify for the season ending race at Miami, and his best finishes were a pair of top-10s. (9th at Daytona and 8th at Dover). The result was 23rd in points.

Dillon's driving career ended in 2001 after getting injured in a wreck at Bristol Motor Speedway. Before then, Dillon had no top-10s and his best 2001 finish was 18th at Atlanta. The following was a quote from RCR:

"Richard Childress Racing (RCR) named Mike Skinner as the driver for its BGN #21 Rockwell Automation team this weekend at Texas while fulltime driver Mike Dillon recuperates from injuries sustained from a March 24 crash at Bristol. "Mike (Dillon) took a hard lick at Bristol so he's pretty sore and stiff," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises, Inc. "He also took a hard lick a couple of weeks ago testing in Nashville. Everyone knows racing at Texas Motor Speedway can be very tough. So, to do what's best for our team and for Rockwell Automation, we've asked Skinner to step in for now to get the job done." None of Dillon's injuries were serious and a CT scan proved negative. His status will be reevaluated after this weekend."

Dillon was more injured than originally thought, and eventually, Dillon quietly stepped aside from the team. Mike Dillon currently serves as the General Manager of Richard Childress Racing's three NASCAR Cup teams. Beginning in 2007, Dillon was the spotter for the Richard Childress owned #33, then driven by Clint Bowyer.

Craftsman Truck Series

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Dillon made three career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, all for Richard Childress. In 1997, Dillon made his debut at Phoenix driving the #33 Realtree Chevy, where he started 29th and finished 26th.

The other two starts were in 1999, running at Watkins Glen and Milwaukee. The 26th in '97 would remain his best finish as he finished 30th at the Glen and 32nd at Milwaukee. However, he did set his career best start of 24th at Watkins Glen.

Personal life

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Dillon's sons Austin and Ty compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. Mike is the son-in-law of Richard Childress.

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NWCC Pts Ref
1997 Richard Childress Racing 3 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR
RL† 		RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL NA - n/a
1998 31 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL
35 		CLT DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY PHO CAR ATL 66th 58 [1]
† – Relieved Dale Earnhardt in race.

Busch Series

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NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NBSC Pts Ref
1993 DAY CAR RCH DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL IRP MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH DOV ROU CLT MAR CAR HCY
DNQ 		ATL NA - [2]
1995 Richard Childress Racing 12 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY
16 		NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB
17 		GLN MLW TAL SBO
18 		IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT
42 		CAR
29 		HOM 54th 449 [3]
1996 Parker Racing 72 Chevy DAY
15 		CAR
32 		RCH
23 		ATL
14 		NSV
20 		DAR
26 		BRI
DNQ 		HCY
26 		NZH
25 		CLT
DNQ 		DOV
38 		SBO
10 		MYB
21 		GLN
19 		MLW
33 		NHA
23 		TAL
29 		IRP
21 		MCH
35 		BRI DAR
22 		RCH
18 		DOV
28 		CLT
DNQ 		CAR
15 		HOM
DNQ 		23rd 1945 [4]
1997 DAY
18 		CAR
31 		RCH
14 		ATL
26 		LVS
10 		DAR
27 		HCY
16 		TEX
13 		BRI
31 		NSV
34 		TAL
15 		NHA
35 		NZH
21 		CLT
14 		DOV
19 		SBO
15 		GLN
18 		MLW
31 		MYB
6 		GTY
19 		IRP
11 		MCH
38 		BRI
30 		DAR
39 		RCH
16 		DOV
4 		CLT
33 		CAL
6 		CAR
23 		HOM
21 		15th 3008 [5]
1998 DAY
24 		CAR
8 		LVS
7 		NSV
42 		DAR
6 		BRI
31 		TEX
14 		HCY
4 		TAL
17 		NHA
19 		NZH
15 		CLT
21 		DOV
15 		RCH
37 		PPR
24 		GLN
5 		MLW
16 		MYB
20 		CAL
10 		SBO
16 		IRP
14 		MCH
13 		BRI
40 		DAR
40 		RCH
26 		DOV
19 		CLT
18 		GTY
32 		CAR
7 		ATL
33 		HOM
24 		12th 3250 [6]
1999 ST Motorsports 59 Chevy DAY
18 		CAR
19 		LVS
DNQ 		ATL
13 		DAR
34 		TEX
28 		NSV
18 		BRI
32 		TAL
26 		CAL
13 		NHA
32 		RCH
13 		NZH
21 		CLT
DNQ 		DOV
16 		SBO
27 		GLN
7 		MLW
35 		MYB
30 		PPR
27 		GTY
31 		IRP
23 		MCH
19 		BRI
23 		DAR
31 		RCH
27 		DOV
13 		CLT
12 		CAR
33 		MEM
18 		PHO
37 		HOM
27 		16th 2795 [7]
2000 Richard Childress Racing 21 Chevy DAY
9 		CAR
17 		LVS
22 		ATL
19 		DAR
13 		BRI
37 		TEX
38 		NSV
37 		TAL
34 		CAL
28 		RCH
19 		NHA
36 		CLT
18 		DOV
32 		SBO
20 		MYB
37 		GLN
19 		MLW
25 		NZH
37 		PPR
20 		GTY
32 		IRP
12 		MCH
22 		BRI
32 		DAR
21 		RCH
17 		DOV
8 		CLT
20 		CAR
36 		MEM
27 		PHO
31 		HOM
DNQ 		23rd 2743 [8]
2001 DAY
29 		CAR
19 		LVS
18 		ATL
20 		DAR
28 		BRI
37 		TEX NSH TAL CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 56th 525 [9]

Craftsman Truck Series

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 NCWTC Pts Ref
1997 Richard Childress Racing 33 Chevy WDW TUS HOM PHO POR EVG I70 NHA TEX BRI NZH MLW LVL CNS HPT IRP FLM NSV GLN RCH MAR SON MMR CAL PHO
16 		LVS 114th 85 [10]
1999 8 HOM PHO EVG MMR MAR MEM PPR I70 BRI TEX PIR GLN
30 		MLW
32 		NSV NZH MCH NHA IRP GTY HPT RCH LVS LVL TEX CAL 79th 140 [11]

References

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  1. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1993 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1995 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1996 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  5. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1997 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1998 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  7. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1999 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  8. ^ "Mike Dillon – 2000 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "Mike Dillon – 2001 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  10. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  11. ^ "Mike Dillon – 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
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