Dillon quickly making a name for himself in NASCAR

Look out NASCAR, there's a promising young gun on
the horizon.

Austin Dillon is looking more and more like the next big up-and-comer in the
sport after winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in dominating
fashion on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. His first win came in just his 12th truck
start. Dillon also set a record at Iowa by becoming the first rookie in the
series to win three consecutive poles.

At age 20 years, two months and 37 days, Dillon became the second-youngest
race winner in the 16-year history of the series, behind Kyle Busch, who won at
Charlotte in 2005 when he was 20 years and 18 days old.

After leading 187 of 205 laps and holding off NASCAR veteran Johnny Sauter in
a two-lap overtime finish, Dillon drove the famed black No.3 in victory lane
at Iowa, which was a delight to many race fans around the world.

"It's pretty awesome," Dillon said. "I've wanted to do it for the fans too. I
know they want to see it out front, and that's the only way people really want
to appreciate it if it's run well, I think. I've put enough pressure on myself
to go out and do the best I can every time I get in that truck, and this just
proves that we can do it. I'm glad it's the No.3. It's my favorite number to
run, and hopefully I can run it for a long time."

Not since the days of Dale Earnhardt have we seen a black-colored vehicle with
the No.3 on it win a race in any one of NASCAR's top-three series. Earnhardt
made the 3 one of the most popular icons in NASCAR while driving for team owner
Richard Childress from the early 1980's until his untimely death during the
2001 Daytona 500.

Dillon is Childress' grandson.

Earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Nationwide Series race at
Daytona International Speedway, driving the iconic Wrangler blue and yellow
paint scheme No.3 Chevrolet. Earnhardt Jr. had a one-race deal with Richard
Childress Racing to drive the car in honor of his late-father's recent
induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

"It's just one of these great days, and to be back in [victory lane] with the
3 last week was special with Dale Jr., but [Sunday] was really special,"
Childress said after Dillon's win at Iowa.

Childress made the trip to the 0.875-mile track, located roughly 35 miles east
of Des Moines, IA, following Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland
Speedway.

Currently sitting in the seventh spot in the truck standings, Dillon is far
from being counted out of the championship. He trails leader Todd Bodine by
267 points. Dillon is almost certain to receive rookie of the year honors in
the series this year, and will take the next career step by graduating to
either the Nationwide or Sprint Cup Series in 2011.

"We've kind of sat down and planned out next year," Dillon said. "I'm planning
on running the Truck Series again next year, running for a championship again,
which I'm really excited for. I think that's the way we need to approach it,
is try and get more experience.

"We did win the race [Sunday]. I know everybody wants to move up quick. I feel
we're at a point right now where we can take our time. My grandfather is the
same way. We don't want to rush things, move up too fast. Just puts you in a
bad situation. That's the plan for so far, is to run the Truck Series."

After brief stints in trucks, several drivers, including Kurt Busch and Carl
Edwards, quickly elevated to Cup, and did so with a great success.

Busch recorded four victories during his sophomore Cup season, and then went
on to win the inaugural championship Chase in 2004. Edwards won four races and
finished third in points during his first full season in NASCAR's top-tier
series in 2005.

Dillon made his first two truck starts in 2009, with his debut coming last
September at Iowa. He originally qualified for the October race at Talladega,
but had his time disallowed after his truck did not meet the minimum height
requirement during post-qualifying inspection.

He has also made seven Nationwide starts so far, the recent coming last month
at New Hampshire, where he drove the No.21 RCR Chevrolet to a 25th-place
finish.

Since the start of the season, Dillon has continued to show improvement,
finishing no worse than fifth in the last three truck races. Don't be surprised
to see him in victory lane again before the end of this year, and rest assured
that he's on his way to becoming one of the next big stars in NASCAR.