Mike Dillon

Michael 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

Winston Cup Series 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, eleven 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 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 twelfth and finished sixteenth. He would make his next start at Myrtle Beach, getting his first career top-ten starting spot of ninth, before leading five laps en route to a seventeenth place finish. He would then follow it up with an eighteenth 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 eighth 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-ten of tenth at South Boston.

Dillon made all the races in 1997, and finished 15th in points. Still running in the No. 72, Dillon scored his first career top-five at Dover. He also added on a pair of sixth and a tenth to have four top-ten finishes. Dillon set his career best start of fourth at Richmond, and also led 21 laps at Gateway before a late crash.

Dillon's best career season came in 1998. He had two top-fives and seven top-tens en route to twelfth in points. The two top-fives were a fourth at Hickory (led 54 laps) and a fifth at Watkins Glen International.

In 1999, Dillon moved to the No. 59 Kingsford team owned by ST Motorsports. He did not qualify for two of the races and that relegated him to sixteenth in the final points. In addition, Dillon only had one top-ten, with a seventh place coming at Watkins Glen. Despite the lack of top-tens, Dillon stayed in sixteenth 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 No. 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-tens. (ninth at Daytona and eighth 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-tens and his best 2001 finish was eighteenth at Atlanta. The following was a quote from RCR:

"Richard Childress Racing (RCR) named Mike Skinner as the driver for its BGN No. 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. He 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 No. 33, then driven by Clint Bowyer.

Craftsman Truck Series Dillon made three career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, all for Richard Childress. In 1997, Dillon made his debut at Phoenix driving the No. 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 Dillon's sons Austin and Ty compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. Mike is the son-in-law of Richard Childress.

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

Winston Cup Series 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 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 DARRL RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO ATL NA - n/a 1998 31 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL35 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 † – Relieved Dale Earnhardt in race.

Busch Series 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 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 ATL NA - 1995 Richard Childress Racing 12 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY16 NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB17 GLN MLW TAL SBO18 IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT42 CAR29 HOM 54th 449 1996 Parker Racing 72 Chevy DAY15 CAR32 RCH23 ATL14 NSV20 DAR26 BRIDNQ HCY26 NZH25 CLTDNQ DOV38 SBO10 MYB21 GLN19 MLW33 NHA23 TAL29 IRP21 MCH35 BRI DAR22 RCH18 DOV28 CLTDNQ CAR15 HOMDNQ 23rd 1945 1997 DAY18 CAR31 RCH14 ATL26 LVS10 DAR27 HCY16 TEX13 BRI31 NSV34 TAL15 NHA35 NZH21 CLT14 DOV19 SBO15 GLN18 MLW31 MYB6 GTY19 IRP11 MCH38 BRI30 DAR39 RCH16 DOV4 CLT33 CAL6 CAR23 HOM21 15th 3008 1998 DAY24 CAR8 LVS7 NSV42 DAR6 BRI31 TEX14 HCY4 TAL17 NHA19 NZH15 CLT21 DOV15 RCH37 PPR24 GLN5 MLW16 MYB20 CAL10 SBO16 IRP14 MCH13 BRI40 DAR40 RCH26 DOV19 CLT18 GTY32 CAR7 ATL33 HOM24 12th 3250 1999 ST Motorsports 59 Chevy DAY18 CAR19 LVSDNQ ATL13 DAR34 TEX28 NSV18 BRI32 TAL26 CAL13 NHA32 RCH13 NZH21 CLTDNQ DOV16 SBO27 GLN7 MLW35 MYB30 PPR27 GTY31 IRP23 MCH19 BRI23 DAR31 RCH27 DOV13 CLT12 CAR33 MEM18 PHO37 HOM27 16th 2795 2000 Richard Childress Racing 21 Chevy DAY9 CAR17 LVS22 ATL19 DAR13 BRI37 TEX38 NSV37 TAL34 CAL28 RCH19 NHA36 CLT18 DOV32 SBO20 MYB37 GLN19 MLW25 NZH37 PPR20 GTY32 IRP12 MCH22 BRI32 DAR21 RCH17 DOV8 CLT20 CAR36 MEM27 PHO31 HOMDNQ 23rd 2743 2001 DAY29 CAR19 LVS18 ATL20 DAR28 BRI37 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

Craftsman Truck Series 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 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 PHO16 LVS 114th 85 1999 8 HOM PHO EVG MMR MAR MEM PPR I70 BRI TEX PIR GLN30 MLW32 NSV NZH MCH NHA IRP GTY HPT RCH LVS LVL TEX CAL 79th 140