Mike Dillon (racing driver)

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.

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

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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