LONG POND — After a long morning of turning laps at Pocono Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie Austin Dillon spent a few moments at his Sprint Cup hauler walking toward the garage road and saying scripted lines in front of a retreating camera crew.
He was smiling for those few moments, but in truth, Friday was a day of business for the Welcome, North Carolina, resident and this week’s on-track representative of Pottsville brewer D.G. Yuengling Inc.
In fact, his demeanor turned serious quickly when discussing his appearance today in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Pocono Mountains 150.
“The truck, we struggled a little bit early,” he said about his first 21 practice laps in the Yuengling Light Lager No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado. “Got it better and still need to find some speed, and I think we will. It’s just the first truck race RCR (Richard Childress Racing) has had all year with the new-style body.”
Dillon was the fifth-fastest driver in the truck series’ field after Friday’s morning practice. After his first lap of 159.569 mph, he quickly found his footing, eventually finishing with a fastest lap of 165.101.
In the afternoon session on a warmer track,
Dillon was not as fast, posting a lap of 164.829 for his best of 13 laps, yet his truck still ranked sixth among 30 on the speedway in the session.
Because only 32 trucks have entered the Pocono Mountains 150, there was little reason for Dillon to worry about anything Friday other than his truck’s performance. He and every other driver will make the field for today’s race.
“Just try to get the pole and go after it,” the 2011 Camping World Truck Series champion said of today’s plan. “We only brought one truck, so we have to be careful up to that point.”
Today is that point. At 10 a.m., qualifying will set the field for the Pocono Mountains 150. At 1 p.m., the 24-year-old Dillon hopes to get to the front and then celebrate with Yuengling beer in the Winner’s Circle, a practice that younger brother Ty did last week after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
To get to Victory Lane today, Austin Dillon said he must have quick rapport with his crew.
“I worked with them once this year in the truck race at Eldora (Ohio, Speedway), so this is the second time we’ve worked together,” Dillon said about the Richard Childress Racing group led by Nick Harrison. Dillon placed 10th at Eldora, but feels the communication will be better this weekend.
“Well, it’s a lot easier, I hope, for those guys,” Dillon said of his crew.
“We struggled at that truck race, but they’re a lot better with asphalt, so we’ll do a good job this weekend.”
That will surely be the hope for Yuengling, its employees and fans who will either make the trip today to Pocono or watch the race on Fox Sports 1. But it’s a familiar routine for Dillon, who often races at speedways near where one of his numerous sponsors is based.
D.G. Yuengling is located 65 miles from Pocono Raceway.
“Any hometown of a sponsor, you want to run well for them,” Dillon said. “It’s a special race for them, so you put a little extra effort in it what you can. You’re always working to your hardest ability every week, but if you can put any extra ability, do it.
“It seems to be pretty good all the way around, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Friday, Dillon first got into the seat of the Yuengling Light Lager No. 3 truck and then moved minutes later into another No. 3, the American Ethanol Chevrolet Sprint Cup car for its practice session. Dillon proved he was adept at both RCR vehicles, as he placed 14th in Friday’s 15 Sprint Cup practice laps with a lap of 178.934 in preparation for afternoon qualifying for Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400.
“You just get used to it,” Dillon said of the transition. “The motor is the big difference. You have to know how hard you can drive each car and what each car will get you, and you learn that over time and experience.”
However, the accumulation of such experience by Dillon and other Sprint Cup drivers has produced controversy. There has been discussion about limiting drivers to their own series to allow Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series’ regulars a greater chance at victory.
Dillon doesn’t see it that way.
“I think it creates more opportunity for the guys coming up to show who can compete with the Cup guys,” he said of his participation. “When they start competing with the Cup guys, that proves they can run at the next level, which is a good thing.
“Obviously, you can’t have one guy, two guys winning every race, so you’ve got to level the playing field somehow to make sure that they are (level). NASCAR can do that themselves, I think, by really looking at the cars.”
If Dillon were ever forced to make a choice, you might see the Yuengling sponsorship on a different race car.
“To do one series?” he said. “It’d be the Cup series. It pays the best.”