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12 Questions with Austin Dillon

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The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing. Dillon got his first career win earlier this season and is 13th in the point standings with two races to go.

1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at it?

I would say 60/40 working at it compared to natural ability. I really feel like you’ve got to work almost double what you do as far as natural ability, because it only carries you so far. And if you keep working at it, you kind of get the muscle memory right and you start making the right decisions under pressure more than you do just naturally. It’s more of a luck thing when it comes naturally.

2. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and now Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all either retired in the last couple years or will retire soon. What’s your pitch for fans of theirs to become fans of yours?

Well, I’ve got all the new guys covered as far as coolness goes. I’m a pretty cool guy — just ask me. (Smiles)

I like being real, having fun with my boys, I just like to have a good time. I feel like I’m a pretty honest guy to say it how it is and I want to make NASCAR better when I leave it. That’s another big part of it: I want to give something back to this sport when I’m done with it.

3. What is the hardest part of your job away from the racetrack?

Definitely just traveling to sponsor appearances. Usually there’s probably one or two every week, just keeping up with those.

And then staying fresh for when you’re asked similar questions throughout the week and you’re just answering the same ones. You’re trying to not get frustrated if you have a week where the same questions are getting answered.

So somebody asks you a question one day about how your season’s going, and the next day it’s like, “How’s your season going” again? That kind of thing?

Yeah, for sure. And if an event happens — like making the playoffs — and you have to do like seven interviews in a row in an hour-and-a-half period or something like that, it’s literally just like I’m repeat. I wish I could get everybody to call in at once and just do one really good interview and that’s where it’s tough, because you’ve got to go through and say the same thing to everybody — because that’s truly the answer. But by the seventh one I’m just dead. I’m like, “I’m OK, the car’s driving good, hopefully we can have a good race.” The first one, I’m pretty witty and fun, but then it gets a little monotonous.

I actually always wonder how you guys do that, because I feel like I’d want to have a recorder I take out and be like, “Here’s what I just told this person,” and just play it, you know?

Exactly, and I think it would be cooler. The ones that I like is when everybody listens in on a conference call, that seems to go pretty well. But when you have to go to different radio stations across the state or a couple of states, it gets pretty bad.

4. Let’s say a fan spots you eating dinner in a nice restaurant. Should they come over for an autograph or no?

Yeah. I mean, I will sign for anyone. I think the best way to do it for a fan is don’t let me leave the table at the end. If I’m eating, just let me finish and then I’ll sign it. Usually that’s what happens. They’ll like, “Hey, big fan, Austin, can I get an autograph?” “Yes, as soon as I’m done, I’ll come sign.” So that works pretty good, where I’ll come to them if they ask.

5. What’s a story in NASCAR that doesn’t get enough coverage?

That’s a good question. I think the media could do a better job covering aero advantages you see on other cars, like getting more technical with our sport and finding the differences between cars. Like if you visually see something on a car, putting it out there earlier than what it usually (gets discovered) to help create an even more fair playground.

Then another story is the penalties. There’s no one that keeps tally, I feel like, of minutes of sitting out on pit road (during practice). I wonder who has the most minutes sitting out on pit road this year for being late through tech. And I bet it averages out where the top couple guys are some of the best guys in the sport. So the guys that are sitting on pit road the longest for missing practices or whatever it might be, for rolling around (through inspection) too many times, I bet if you look at that and tallied all those minutes up, it would come out with the pretty good guys at the top.

So it’s actually sort of a good thing because they’re pushing it?

Either that, or it’s telling you that they’re cheating the most to get the most. Is cheating rewarding the guys that are up front?

6. Who is the last driver you texted?

My brother (Ty) about 10 minutes ago. We were talking about fantasy football. We made a trade.

7. Do you consider race car drivers to be entertainers?

Entertainers on the track, yes. Away from the track, some of them aren’t entertainers. I feel like some are boring. Some are exciting and funny and have personalities, but some just don’t in my opinion. But all of them are entertainers when it comes to being on the track. Some of the most boring guys out of the race car are some of the most exciting in the race car.

What do we have to do to get the boring guys off the track to be more exciting?

I think make them feel comfortable to where if they do mess up or say something wrong, they’re not just shut down instantly from a fan standpoint. You’ve got a lot of fans supporting one, two, three guys and then one guy steps out of his comfort zone that’s not supported by all the fans, (he shouldn’t have to) feel like he’s going to ruin his career due to a fan base booing him.

8. What is your middle finger policy on the racetrack?

Man, mine flies all the time. I’ve got to do a better job with that, actually. It’s just when I’m mad, that’s just what happens. I know one thing, if I see the middle finger, I really fly hot in the race car because I want to get to that guy, move him or do whatever I can. But I don’t know, I wish I would just wave more. That would be better.

If you wave, people are like, “That could mean something else.”

Yeah, it could mean something else. And sometimes, I’ll throw the peace sign out the window and I don’t know if that’s just worse than the middle finger, like “See ya, guy.”

9. Some drivers keep a payback list in their minds. Do you also have a list for drivers who have done you a favor on the track?

Oh, for sure. I think certain guys you put in your head that have given you a break at certain periods of time. Tony Stewart was one of the best at it. If he was having a bad day and you were coming forward and he knew you were there, he would get out of your way pretty quick. But I’ll tell you what, if you didn’t have that same way of driving style on the way back when he was coming through, he would let you know really quick. So I think I knew in the back of my mind, “OK, he let me go really quick, I need to let him go.”

10. Who is the most famous person you’ve had dinner with?

I don’t know if this counts, but Donald Trump Jr. sat behind me once. Gary Player, I sat with him at a dinner. I don’t know. I’ve eaten with Dale Jr. — he’s pretty famous.

Man, I’m trying to think of somebody outside the sport who would be really cool. Oh, Jimmy Carter — former President. I ate lunch with him. So that was pretty cool.

11. What’s something about yourself you’d like to improve?

My (fiancee, Whitney Ward) says compassion. I need to have more compassion, so I’m working on that.

Like just for other people in general or what?

Yeah, I’m kind of black and white on certain situations, so I should be a little better — just a little easier, I guess, on certain people.

12. Last week I interviewed Danica Patrick. She wanted me to ask you: If you could live on Earth forever and eat the steak that’s on Earth and have your current life that’s on Earth and be happy, would you rather do that or would you rather take a risk and go to another planet where it’s potentially way happier? You don’t know what it’s going be, but you’ll be way happier than where you are now. Would you stay in your current Earth situation or go to this other planet?

And I’m happy with the steak where I’m at right now though? But it could just be way better at the other one? The potential is way higher, but it could also be bad.

Correct, yes. That’s what I understood from the question.

Man. I’m not a huge food guy — like food does not make or break me because I can eat about anything. So I would have to know more details when it came to if my fiancee was with me, if my family was gonna be there, if it was just for me. If my family’s still (on Earth) and I’m leaving them, I would stay. I would be eating the same ol’ steak, chilling. But if I could take my whole crew with me, if there’s an opportunity, I’d probably push for the opportunity.

The next interview is going to be with Landon Cassill. Do you have a question I can ask Landon?

If he could bring three sponsors into this sport to make it better, what would they be and why?

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News Analysis: Aric Almirola to drive No. 10 car at Stewart-Haas Racing

What happened: Stewart-Haas Racing announced Aric Almirola will replace Danica Patrick in the No. 10 car next season with backing from longtime Almirola sponsor Smithfield.

What it means: Almirola will be in the best equipment of his Cup Series career after Smithfield and Richard Petty Motorsports resolved their legal issues. There had been a holdup in announcing this move after Smithfield’s CEO and Petty himself had a war of words during what seemed like a bitter breakup, and that apparently led to behind-the-scenes wrangling over whether Smithfield and Almirola could go to a different team as a package. That’s all behind them now, and Almirola will join Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and whoever drives the 41 car (probably Kurt Busch) at SHR next season.

News value (scale of 1-10): Four. The primary newsworthiness in this situation appears to be making it “official,” since everyone knew for awhile now that Almirola was heading to SHR. Still, it is more newsy than other non-surprises because it’s a major team with a high-profile team owner.

Three questions: Despite spending his career in lesser equipment than Patrick, Almirola is statistically an upgrade in every category — but can he win races in the 10? Will Almirola be a perennial playoff driver now that he’s with an elite team? What exactly will Smithfield’s involvement with RPM be?

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The Top Five: Breaking down the Texas Motor Speedway playoff race

Five thoughts after Sunday’s playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway…

1. Didn’t see that coming

It’s not like Kevin Harvick was an upset winner at Texas, but his victory Sunday was definitely a surprise.

Did you expect him to win? I didn’t.

First of all, Harvick had never gone to victory lane at Texas. So there’s that.

But who would have legitimately picked Harvick to win at a 1.5-mile track when those races have been completely dominated by Martin Truex Jr. lately? It’s not like Harvick or his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates had a bunch of wins since moving to Ford, either; the only victories for SHR this season had been Harvick’s road course win at Sonoma and Kurt Busch’s restrictor-plate win in the Daytona 500.

So when Harvick tracked down Truex and passed him like it was nothing? Wow! That was both a show of power and an unexpected outcome — although crew chief Rodney Childers noted the team has been bringing more speed over the last month.

“I feel like we should have won more races this year,” Childers said. “It’s disappointing. I don’t like to lose. It’s been a hard year. So to finally get one back into victory lane, to feel like we have something we can race with the last four or five weeks, (that) has been impressive to me.”

Maybe everyone wasn’t paying enough attention as the No. 4 team crept back toward winning again. Guilty as charged here.

But either way, Harvick and Childers have served notice they’re back and are capable of winning another title.

After all, you never want to let the hard-nosed Harvick get a whiff of potential victory if you’re one of his competitors.

2. Truex vulnerable?

Almost immediately after the race, Martin Truex Jr. — unprompted — tried to get in front of the potential storyline that his team had somehow lost momentum by finally failing to win a 1.5-mile track race.

“People are going to say, ‘Well, I think the balance of power (has shifted)’ and ‘Did Harvick steal our confidence by beating us at the end?'” he said. “All that Voodoo stuff I’m sure will be brought up.

“The bottom line is our last run we weren’t as good as we needed to be. We got beat, but we still did what we needed to do. … To think we came up eight laps short…is pretty good.”

It’s true Truex has been dominant on 1.5-milers (he’d won four in a row and six overall this season), but his playoffs have been a bit odd compared to the regular season. Where Truex won 18 stages in 26 regular-season races, he’s won just one stage in the eight playoff races.

That’s a bit misleading considering he has three wins in the playoffs, but it still could be a sign the team isn’t unloading as fast off the truck as it was earlier in the year.

Yes, Truex will still be the favorite going into Homestead no matter what. But Harvick tracking him down and passing him late in a playoff race on a 1.5-miler shows the 78 team is certainly beatable in the right circumstances.

3. Last One In

In theory, there are five drivers fighting for one spot at Phoenix. Personally, I think it’s more like two.

Brad Keselowski currently holds the final playoff spot by 19 points over Denny Hamlin. I think the race will come down to those two.

Sure, Ryan Blaney is within range — he’s only 22 points behind Keselowski. But although the Wood Brothers Racing driver has two top-10s in three Phoenix starts, I don’t see him outrunning the other two drivers by enough points to make it.

Then there’s Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott, but it’s hard to imagine either of them winning outright — which will be a must next week.

So the battle is likely between Keselowski and Hamlin. And even though he’s behind, I’ll give the edge to Hamlin.

Here’s why: If you recall, Toyota drivers dominated the two New Hampshire races this summer — those drivers led 589 of 601 laps at NHMS this year — and that track is a 1-mile flat oval that is the most similar to Phoenix.

With stage points playing such a factor in the standings these days, I can envision Hamlin running in the top three and chipping away at Keselowski’s lead before the halfway point — then outrunning him in better equipment at the finish.

Nothing against Keselowski, but it just seems like the better bet is the team that has consistently shown more speed.

4. The Levy Was Dry

Barring a Johnson or Elliott victory at Phoenix, Chevrolet is headed toward being shut out from Homestead for the first time in the existence of the new format.

Chevy had two entries among the final four the first two years of the championship race, then had one entry last year. Toyota has had at least one driver every season — and will now have at least two for the second straight year — and Ford missed 2015 but had one in the other two seasons.

Even though we know Hendrick Motorsports has been down this season, it’s still jarring to think of no Chevrolets running for the title — especially since many people viewed Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson as a lock to make it.

A lot of people are banking on the new Camaro changing Chevrolet’s fortunes next year, but I’m not sure it will be that simple.

 

5. Daydreaming

Hey, remember last week at Martinsville when the race was totally awesome and featured thrilling battles for the entire 3.5-hour event?

And remember how energized everyone seemed after so much excitement and drama that showcased the best of what this playoff format has to offer?

And remember how the race was so good that we talked about it for the like whole week?

Yeah.

Me too.

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Post-Texas Podcast with Dan ‘Dado’ Hodson

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(Warning: Explicit language)

Legendary Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan Dan “Dado” Hodson, also known as @SloppyYellow and the host of Dirty Mo Radio’s UnDamnRestricted Podcast, joins me at his yellow school bus parked in Turn 3 at Texas Motor Speedway to break down everything that happened in Sunday’s playoff race.

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News Analysis: Matt Kenseth will step away from NASCAR after this season

What happened: Matt Kenseth, in an interview with NBC Sports’ Nate Ryan, acknowledged what has seemed increasingly apparent over the last few months — that he will not race in NASCAR next season, and perhaps never again. Kenseth said there were no good opportunities to race in the Cup Series in 2018 and though he was open to a return, he didn’t “really feel it’s in the cards.” (He said a lot more than that, so you should read the interview — linked above — if you haven’t.)

What it means: This appears to be the unsatisfying end of the road for a future Hall of Fame driver and another big blow to NASCAR. The Cup Series will now have lost Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth all within a span of three years. It’s an entire generation of star power leaving all at once.

News value (scale of 1-10): Eight. Even though people knew Kenseth was probably going to be the odd man out in Silly Season, it’s still jarring to realize this could be the end. But it’s also a relief, because now Kenseth can be celebrated for the next two weeks and his fans will have at least a brief chance to say goodbye. Although Kenseth is understated and probably doesn’t care much for recognition, it would have been sad for him to step out of the car for the final time at Homestead and just walk away without any fanfare.

Three questions: Can the NASCAR industry scramble to pay proper respect to the 2003 Cup champ in the next few weeks? Will we see Kenseth back behind the wheel at some point, or is this really it? How crazy have the economics of the sport gotten when an elite driver who can still win races can’t get a top ride for next season?

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Matt DiBenedetto gives his Martinsville take from ‘total race fan’ perspective

Matt DiBenedetto was out of the Martinsville race last week after just 187 laps, so he watched the dramatic finish as a fan, he said Saturday during a media session.

“That was the most exciting race I’ve ever watched,” DiBenedetto said.

But the GoFas Racing driver couldn’t help but wonder what he would have done in a similar situation as Denny Hamlin or Chase Elliott.

DiBenedetto said he didn’t have a problem with what Hamlin did because “it wasn’t intentional” and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver was trying to do a big bump-and-run that went bad.

He certainly wouldn’t have apologized in Hamlin’s situation.

“There’s no way in hell I would apologize for that,” DiBenedetto said. “You don’t want to wreck anyone, but that’s the situation you’re forced into. Winning is everything and finishing second doesn’t matter.

“I’d do everything in the world. I’d move my grandmother out of the way on the last lap to have a chance at winning the championship. I’d be like, ‘I hate I wrecked him. I didn’t want to do that. But yeah, I was trying to move him out of the way. We’re racing at Martinsville and I want to go to the championship.'”

On the other hand, even though he said Hamlin didn’t have anything to apologize for, DiBenedetto said he likely would have gotten physical out of pure anger with the situation.

“From Chase’s standpoint…I would be so angry, just out of passion and caring that I would probably lose my mind,” he said. “From an outsider’s perspective, props to him for being so calm, but as a fan, I wanted to see him get out and just be so angry that I don’t care if he shoved him. I was heated just watching it.

“Not that Denny did anything wrong, but if it were me, I probably would have gotten physical in some sort of way — just because I wouldn’t have been able to help it. Your guys work so hard all day every single day for you to have a shot at winning. For it to be taken away, I’d be mad.”

DiBenedetto smiled.

 

“But that’s my take as a total race fan,” he said.

 

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Chase Elliott fails to make qualifying attempt at Texas

Chase Elliott’s car went through NASCAR’s laser inspection platform for a third time with just minutes remaining in the first round of qualifying. He was so sure his car had passed, Elliott immediately put on his HANS device and helmet and prepared to get in the car.

But as his team started backing up the car toward the garage instead of pushing it toward pit road, Elliott realized he wasn’t going to get to qualify on Friday. He slowly unbuckled his helmet and followed the car toward his team’s garage stall.

Elliott, 26 points below the cutoff line with two races to go, will now start 34th Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

“As you all know, I think qualifying well is important for stage points, so I think it puts even more emphasis for us on having to go compete for a win,” Elliott told a small group of reporters afterward. “It keeps it simple. Jimmie (Johnson) did it in the spring (after starting from the back), and if we get our car driving good (Saturday) afternoon, it’s definitely doable.”

Elliott was puzzled as to why teams seem to struggle with inspection at Texas. His No. 24 was one of seven cars that did not make a lap — Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano were other notables — and Elliott also had to start from the back in the spring race.

The 24 team, knowing how important qualifying was, apparently took a big swing at fixing the area in question after its first failed inspection attempt. Team members, including crew chief Alan Gustafson, appeared surprised and frustrated when it did not pass on the second attempt.

“You’re kidding me,” Gustafson said.

And when the car came through a third time, the team seemed absolutely certain it would get Elliott on the track with a minute or so remaining in qualifying.

Instead, the car didn’t pass yet again.

“We got caught ‘cheating’ when we were trying to pass,” Elliott said. “I don’t know why that was. We were fixing our area of failure in a way larger area than what we failed by. I don’t know why we couldn’t get the (laser) to produce the green light.”