The Dillon Brothers: Two Talented Young Racing Professionals That Have A Great Future Ahead Of Them



Austin and TY Dillon: The sons of Mike Dillon ( RCR general manager and former race car driver) and the grandsons of Richard Childress. Austin and TY both attend High Point University, were TY is majoring in business management and Austin is majoring in Communications. Their father Mike Dillon told them if they want to race, they have to get a college education as a back up plan if racing does not work out. If you have been watching Austin and TY Dillon race, you know that racing is working out for them and they have been really successful in their young racing career’s.



21year old Austin Dillon completed his first full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010. He ended his rookie season with two wins, seven top fives, sixteen top tens and also claimed the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year Honors. Austin is in his second full season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and he is currently 2^nd in the points standings. He has competed in four Nationwide Series events for Kevin Harvick Inc this season and scored one top five, three top tens, and completed every lap. Austin is scheduled to make his Sprint Cup debut in the No. 98 Chevrolet fielded by Curb-Agajanian Performance Group with sponsorship by the Ronald Reagan Foundation’s Centennial Celebration and the Childress Institute of Pediatric Trauma later this year. In 2012 Austin is moving his racing career to the next level: He will be competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series full time. Austin will use the #3 in the Nationwide Series and will be driving for the teams of Kevin Harvick Inc and Richard Childress racing who recently announced they will merge in 2012. Austin will open the season as a rookie of the year candidate in the #3.



19 year old TY Dillon ran a limited schedule in the ARCA Racing Series in 2010( three ARCA Racing Series events )- earning two wins and one pole award. His first career win in the ARCA racing series was at Kansas Speedway in just his second start! Ty earned the pole and finished second at his ARCA debut at Iowa Speedway. He also ran a limited schedule in the NASCAR K@N Pro series East Division in 2010, earning his first career win at Gresham Motor Sports Park. TY is currently in his first full season in the ARCA racing series. He currently leads the ARCA points standings and has won seven of the first sixteen events this year. TY will be making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut this year at Kentucky. In 2012- Ty will be competing in his first full season in the NASCAR Camping world Truck series driving the #3 Silverado.

Austin has a good chance at claiming the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship at the end of the 2011 season. TY has a huge points lead in the ARCA Series, so expect to hear the name TY Dillon as the 2011 ARCA Racing series Champion. The Dillon brothers are without a doubt two of the best young racers that us race fans have seen in a long time. keep your eye on the two of them because before you know it, both of them will be racing in the Sprint Cup Series full time in a couple years. In my opinion, I think both of them will do very well in 2012 and in the years to come. We will have to keep watching the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the NASCAR Nationwide Series and wait and see what the future will hold for the Dillon brothers.

To Austin and TY Dillon: Congratulations on getting the opportunity to move your racing careers to the next level in 2012!

Benson Set For 2012 Truck Series Return

Johnny Benson is a 48 year old American racing professional from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the son of former Michigan Modified driver John Benson, Sr. Johnny has build a very impressive racing resume. Many of you know that he has not raced in NASCAR in more than two years. Even though Johnny hasn’t raced in NASCAR in awhile, he has been apart of NASCAR in a different way and he actually has been racing in other series.

Johnny raced in the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1990, and he earned one pole position, led 174 laps and scored eight top 10 finishes. Benson was named the 1990 American Speed Association (ASA) Rookie of the year. In 1991 he earned 13 top 10’s, four second place finishes and was ranked fourth in the series. Johnny drove the #21 valvoline Chevrolet for Throop Motor Sports in 1993 and claimed the 1993 American Speed Association (ASA) Championship.

Johnny raced in NASCAR’s top three divisions and was very successful in all three of them. He made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 1993 in Michigan. In 1994 he won his first Nationwide race at “The Monster Mile”( Dover Motor Speedway). He claimed the NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the year honors in 1994. Johnny earned the Nationwide Championship in 1995. His last Nationwide race was in 1995. He has a total of three wins, 35 top tens and 1 pole in his NASCAR Nationwide Series career.

Johnny made his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut in 1996 at the Daytona 500. He was named the 1996 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the year. His first and only Sprint Cup Series win was in 2002 at Rockingham. His final Sprint Cup Series race was in 2007 at Homestead. In his Sprint Cup career he earned a total of 1 win, 58 top tens and two poles.

Johnny shined like a star in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. He made his Camping World Truck Series debut in 1995 at Phoenix. His first win was in 2006 at Michigan and his last win in the Truck Series was in 2008 in Martinsville. He claimed the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship in 2008. He was named the 2006, 2007, and 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular driver. In his Truck series career he earned a total of 14 wins, 87 top tens and 5 poles. In 2009 Benson joined Red Horse Racing, but unfortunately Johnny lost his truck series ride due to a lack of sponsorship.

After losing his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride, Johnny began racing in Late model and Super late model events. Even though you haven’t seen Johnny race in NASCAR in awhile, he has still been in the sport coaching some Up and Coming NASCAR Stars. Last year he worked with Trevor Bayne, the 20 year old that this year won NASCAR’s most prestigious event, the Daytona 500.He has worked with Danica Patrick and he has worked with Johanna Long in the Camping World Truck Series. In 2010 Benson served as a mentor to Kyle Busch Motor Sports drivers Brian Ickler and Taylor Malsam.

It has taken more than two years, but Johnny has found a great opportunity that will start his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career again. In 2012 Benson plans to return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Turn One Racing, which features NASCAR Veteran driver Stacy Compton as the team’s owner. His goal is to run the whole season and compete for the championship. Pure Michigan has come on board and will be on the hood of his truck. They have been talking with many great companies in Michigan who have shown a lot of enthusiasm in joining his team. Compton’s team has Cole Whitt, an impressive 20 year old rookie. Benson said he is hoping to join Whitt in the field for a race later this season. If not, look out because Johnny will be ready to race at the season opener at Daytona in Feb. 2012.

Johnny is excited to finally be getting back into a NASCAR Camping World Truck and I am sure all of his race fans are really excited to hear the news that Johnny Benson is coming back to race in the Truck series in 2012. Johnny has not raced in NASCAR in more than 2 years, so don’t be surprised if he struggles a little bit. Race fans: be on the look out for Johnny Benson in the Camping World Truck Series in 2012. Benson is coming back and he is ready to show the young guns of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, that he can still race hard at the age of 48 years old.

The Inaugural IZOD Indy Car Race At Baltimore Preview

The Baltimore Grand Prix is an IZOD Indy Car Series race held on a street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland. The inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix is scheduled for Labor Day weekend on September 2- 4, 2011 and the race will be on a temporary street circuit around the inner Harbor area of downtown Baltimore. The circuit is 2.1 miles and the course will start/finish near the intersection of Pratt street.

On September 4^th, the IZOD Indy Car Series rockets into Baltimore to start round 15 of the Indy Car Series championship. Before the race starts Saturday afternoon, the IZOD Indy Cars had a couple Practice sessions and qualified for the race.

More than 75,000 people are expected to be down town in Baltimore to watch the Baltimore Grand Prix Saturday afternoon.

Is the street course ready for its Indy Car debut? Drivers politely told Indy Car officals that the course is not ready. If cars are stacked up like overturned Matchbox cars at Turn One today, or there is a crash in the pits, I can assure you the politeness will go away.

In Practice one: Penske racing driver, Will Power was the fastest

The IZOD Indy Car Series Practice #2 Results:

1 Will Power

2 Dario Franchitti

3 Graham Rahal

4 Scott Dixon

5 Sebastien Bourdais

6 Vitor Meira

7 Ryan Briscoe

8 James Hinchcliffe

9 Giorgio Pantano

10 Oriol Servia

11 Takuma Sato

12 Ryan Hunter-Reay

13 EJ Viso 0.9987

14 Charlie Kimball

15 Helio Castroneve

16 Tomas Scheckter

17 JR Hildebrand

18 Mike Conway

19 Martin Plowman

20 Alex Tagliani

21 Simona de Silvestro

22 Tony Kanaan

23 James Jakes

24 Danica Patrick

25 Marco Andretti

26 Ana Beatriz

27 Sebastian Saavedra

28 Ed Carpenter

IZOD Indy Car driver Simona de Silvestro led Sundays pre- race warm-up in Baltimore. The 30- minute session ended up only being 4 laps as a result of two crashes. Tony Kanaan had no brakes at the end of the 170 mph front stretch. Turning left as the corner approached, Kanaan intentionally steered his car in to the side of castroneves, launching the KV Racing car high into the air . Thankfully both drivers were not hurt after that incident. The second Crash- involved three cars, with Panther Racing’s JR Hilebrand slipping down the inside corner while Anna Beatriz was turning in with her righ rear, sending her into the air and into the corner exit tire barrier. James Jakes was following immediately behind, and got into the back of Hildebrand’s car, blocking the track.

Results of Sunday’s Pre race warm- up

1.Simona de Silvestro

2 Danica Patrick

3 Tony Kanaan

4 Dario Franchitti

5 Will Power

6 Mike Conway

7 Marco Andretti

8 Scott Dixon

9 James Hinchcliffe

10 James Jakes

11 Sebastien Bourdais

12 Alex Tagliani

13 Helio Castroneves

14 Ryan Briscoe

15 Ana Beatriz

16 Martin Plowman

17 EJ Viso

18 JR Hildebrand

19 Vitor Meira

20 Ryan Hunter-Reay

21 Oriol Servia

22 Sebastian Saavedra

23 Ed Carpenter

24 Charlie Kimball

25 Giorgio Pantano

26 Tomas Scheckter

27 Takuma Sato

28 Graham Rahal

In qualifying, it was Will Power who snatch the pole for the Baltimore Grand Prix. Graham Rahal starts in the second position, Ryan Briscoe starts in the 3^rd position, Dario Franchitii starts 4^th, and Sebastien Bourdais starts 5^th. The Cars of Tony Kanaan and Helio will be moved to the back of the field today after both of them have changed to backup cars. The # 82 will start p27, and the # 3 p28.

Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti has two wins, two thirds and a fourth on street courses this year. Penske’s Will Power has a similar record with two wins, a second and was in contention for a top finish at Toronto were he was taken out.

Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti Auto Sport have been in control of the Street courses this year and this weekend at Baltimore, I expect that its going to be Ganassi or Penske racing that is going to dominate the race. Race Fans: You got to tune into Versus Saturday 2pm ET and get ready to watch great IZOD Indy Car Series racing!

To see the complete results of qualifying, click on the link below.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/indy-car/results/

The 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Race At Atlanta Motor Speedway Preview



Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54 miles quad- oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. The track opened in 1960 as a 1.5- mile standard oval. In 1997, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The front stretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest NASCAR circuit. Saturday September 3^rd, the NASCAR Nationwide series rolls into Atlanta Motor Speedway to start race 26 out of 34 on there season schedule. Saturday morning, the Nationwide drivers had two practice sessions and at about 3:30pm ET they qualified for Saturday’s night race. Going into the race Saturday night, there are a couple big new stories.

NASCAR has reinstated crew member Troy Hartman upon his successful completion of NASCAR’s Road to Recovery Program following his July 5,2011 suspension for violation the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy. NASCAR has also reinstated Denise Harmon-Mixon, a crew member in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, following her successful completion of NASCAR’s Road to Recovery Program.

Rodger Penske hopes to field two full time Nationwide programs in 2012, including one for former Indy Car and Indianapolis 500 Champion Sam Hornish Jr. Penske would like to run a second Nationwide team and split the driving duties between Brad Keselowki and Parker Kligerman.

Two- time NASCAR K@N Pro Series East Champion Ryan Truex will make his debut for Joe Gibbs Racing, driving the N0. 20 Toyota that finished second to Kyle Busch a week ago at Bristol. Truex is also scheduled to run Richmond, Chicago, Dover, Kansas and phoenix with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Jamie McMurray (2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 Champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ) will be racing in the #7 JR Motor Sports Chevy this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. McMurray is the defending race winner of the Great Clips 300.

In the first practice session Aric Almirola was the fastest with a lap time of 30.820 (179.883 MPH). Carl Edwards was second fastest, Kevin Harvick was third, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was fourth, and Kasey Kahne was fifth fastest. In the second and final practice session, rookie Ryan Truex was the fastest with a lap time of 31.545 (175.749 MPH). Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski was second fastest, Jr motor sports driver Aric Almirola was third fastest, Mike Bliss was fourth fastest and Kyle Busch was fifth fastest.

In Qualifying it was Carl Edwards who grabbed the pole for Saturday nights Nationwide race at Atlanta. Brad Keselowski starts second, Kyle Busch starts third, Ryan Truex starts fourth. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr starts fifth.

You got to keep your eye on Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush fen way , Kevin Harvick Inc: Those are the team’s that have the best chance at getting the win Saturday night. You wont exactly know who is going to win, until you tune into ESPN2, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, and get ready to see great NASCAR Nationwide Series Racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway!

To see the complete results of practice one, click on the link below.

http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/practice/26/1/

To see the complete results of practice two, click on the link below.

http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/practice/26/2/

To see the complete results of qualifying, click on the link below.

http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/lineup/26/