Mike Dillon (racing driver)

Mike 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 son-in-law of Richard Childress.

Mike Dillon
BornMichael Dillon
(1965-02-01) February 1, 1965
Lexington, North Carolina
NASCAR Cup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish66th (1998)
First race1998 California 500 (Fontana)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
154 races run over 7 years
Best finish12th (1998)
First race1995 Sundrop 400 (Hickory)
Last race2001 Cheez-It 250 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 15 0
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
3 races run over 2 years
Best finish79th (1999)
First race1997 GM Goodwrench / Delco 300 (Phoenix)
Last race1999 DieHard 200 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

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, 11 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 12th and finished 16th. He would make his next start at Myrtle Beach, getting his first career top-10 starting spot of 9th, before leading 5 laps en route to a 17th-place finish. He would then follow it up with an 18th 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 8th 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-10 of 10th at South Boston.

Dillon made all the races in 1997, and finished 15th in points. Still running in the #72, Dillon scored his first career top-5 at Dover. He also added on a pair of 6th and a 10th to have 4 top-10 finishes. Dillon set his career best start of 4th at Richmond, and also led 21 laps at Gateway before a late crash.

Dillon's best career season came in 1998. He had 2 top-5s and 7 top-10s en route to 12th in points. The two top-5s were a 4th at Hickory (led 54 laps) and a 5th at Watkins Glen International.

In 1999, he moved to the #59 Kingsford team owned by ST Motorsports. He did not qualify for two of the races and that relegated him to 16th in the final points. In addition, Dillon only had one top-10, with a 7th place coming at Watkins Glen. Despite the lack of top-10s, Dillon stayed in 16th 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 #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-10s. (9th at Daytona and 8th 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-10s and his best 2001 finish was 18th at Atlanta. The following was a quote from RCR:

"Richard Childress Racing (RCR) named Mike Skinner as the driver for its BGN #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. Mike Dillon 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 #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 #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 NWCC Pts
1998 Richard Childress Racing 31 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL
35		 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

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 NBSC Pts
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
DNQ		 ATL NA -
1995 Richard Childress Racing 12 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY
16		 NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB
17		 GLN MLW TAL SBO
18		 IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT
42		 CAR
29		 HOM 54th 449
1996 Parker Racing 72 Chevy DAY
15		 CAR
32		 RCH
23		 ATL
14		 NSV
20		 DAR
26		 BRI
DNQ		 HCY
26		 NZH
25		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
38		 SBO
10		 MYB
21		 GLN
19		 MLW
33		 NHA
23		 TAL
29		 IRP
21		 MCH
35		 BRI DAR
22		 RCH
18		 DOV
28		 CLT
DNQ		 CAR
15		 HOM
DNQ		 23rd 1945
1997 DAY
18		 CAR
31		 RCH
14		 ATL
26		 LVS
10		 DAR
27		 HCY
16		 TEX
13		 BRI
31		 NSV
34		 TAL
15		 NHA
35		 NZH
21		 CLT
14		 DOV
19		 SBO
15		 GLN
18		 MLW
31		 MYB
6		 GTY
19		 IRP
11		 MCH
38		 BRI
30		 DAR
39		 RCH
16		 DOV
4		 CLT
33		 CAL
6		 CAR
23		 HOM
21		 15th 3008
1998 DAY
24		 CAR
8		 LVS
7		 NSV
42		 DAR
6		 BRI
31		 TEX
14		 HCY
4		 TAL
17		 NHA
19		 NZH
15		 CLT
21		 DOV
15		 RCH
37		 PPR
24		 GLN
5		 MLW
16		 MYB
20		 CAL
10		 SBO
16		 IRP
14		 MCH
13		 BRI
40		 DAR
40		 RCH
26		 DOV
19		 CLT
18		 GTY
32		 CAR
7		 ATL
33		 HOM
24		 12th 3250
1999 ST Motorsports 59 Chevy DAY
18		 CAR
19		 LVS
DNQ		 ATL
13		 DAR
34		 TEX
28		 NSV
18		 BRI
32		 TAL
26		 CAL
13		 NHA
32		 RCH
13		 NZH
21		 CLT
DNQ		 DOV
16		 SBO
27		 GLN
7		 MLW
35		 MYB
30		 PPR
27		 GTY
31		 IRP
23		 MCH
19		 BRI
23		 DAR
31		 RCH
27		 DOV
13		 CLT
12		 CAR
33		 MEM
18		 PHO
37		 HOM
27		 16th 2795
2000 Richard Childress Racing 21 Chevy DAY
9		 CAR
17		 LVS
22		 ATL
19		 DAR
13		 BRI
37		 TEX
38		 NSV
37		 TAL
34		 CAL
28		 RCH
19		 NHA
36		 CLT
18		 DOV
32		 SBO
20		 MYB
37		 GLN
19		 MLW
25		 NZH
37		 PPR
20		 GTY
32		 IRP
12		 MCH
22		 BRI
32		 DAR
21		 RCH
17		 DOV
8		 CLT
20		 CAR
36		 MEM
27		 PHO
31		 HOM
DNQ		 23rd 2743
2001 DAY
29		 CAR
19		 LVS
18		 ATL
20		 DAR
28		 BRI
37		 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 NCWTC Pts
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 PHO
16		 LVS 114th 85
1999 8 HOM PHO EVG MMR MAR MEM PPR I70 BRI TEX PIR GLN
30		 MLW
32		 NSV NZH MCH NHA IRP GTY HPT RCH LVS LVL TEX CAL 79th 140
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References
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