Austin Dillon battled hard in the opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races but was knocked out of last weekend’s cutoff after an incident with another vehicle and was thus unable to advance to the NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12. Austin finished the first two playoff races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway in 11th and sixth place, respectively, but was relegated to 39th place due to the accident, leaving him in 14th place in Cup Series points – two spots outside the cutoff. This season marked the third year in a row that Austin made it to the NASCAR postseason and had the opportunity to push for a title against the rest of NASCAR’s elite athletes.
“This was a crazy race,” said Austin. “I was having a good run in the Dow Chevrolet and the No. 37 car wiggled in the middle of turns 3 and 4. I don’t know if he had damage or what, but he got loose and when he did I was on the outside of him and I lost it after I tried to miss him. We fixed it and I came back up through there and jumped the curb and I think that’s what cut my tire down going into Turns 3 and 4. I should have just been more patient and waited for more attrition to go out. But, I actually felt pretty comfortable and we were running good. It’s just hard to hold back in a treacherous race and I guess I didn’t do what we needed to do. I’ve got to thank everybody at Dow, American Ethanol, AAA, Chevrolet and RCR/ECR for this year. We’re out of the NASCAR Playoffs and I’m disappointed but we still have a few more chances to win this year.”
Austin Dillon will have the No. 3 car back in action this weekend for the Gander Outdoors 400 at Dover International Speedway. He’s has had success at Dover in recent years, finishing eighth at the track in 2016, and earning a ninth-place start in 2017. When asked about Dover’s similarities to Bristol Motor Speedway, Austin shared some candid thoughts about the track:
“It is a little crazier the way the rubber lays down on the track and the way you can get up really high at certain times in that race. The bottom is obviously always the preferred groove there, but the top does come in pretty early in the race. I have always enjoyed Dover. I will tell you…[going into turns] you don’t catch your breath. It is one of those places you get finished qualifying and you are still… you know what you want to tell your crew chief, but you can’t say it because you don’t have your breath yet. I always have to say ‘hold on’ and I catch my breath and then say ‘okay, I’m too loose here or too tight and it’s more like (in a breathy tone) I’m too loose we’ve got to do something’ and then you work on the car a little bit more and get your bravery up and go again.”
The Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway will be televised on Sunday, October 7 at 2 p.m. Eastern time on NBC Sports Network. It will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
American Ethanol has teamed up with Anthony Taylor to sponsor his next race: No Fly Zone Arizona, on Saturday, October 13. Anthony will debut a new wrap concept of his American Ethanol Porsche 997 Turbo GT2 at the event and host a shop talk with spectators. Anthony will aim to win his class with 180 mph+ runs while burning a high-ethanol blend from Eclipse Racing Fuel!
Lake Expo recently published the results of an anti-ethanol push poll conducted by BoatUS, a member of the Smarter Fuel Future coalition, a group dedicated to reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Don Onken, owner of the record setting 51-foot American Ethanol Mystic Powerboats Catamaran, responded to the poll with a letter to the editor that was published on the Lake Expo website, where he pointed out some of the flaws with the poll and highlighted the positive role that ethanol can play in the boating community.
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