Austin Dillon scored the pole position for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway Sunday. Photo by Patrick Smith/NASCAR via Getty Images
After a 13-year absence, the No. 3 is back at the Daytona 500, and it seems only fitting that in its return, it will start from the pole for next Sunday’s 56th running of the season-opening event.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Austin Dillon wheeled the No. 3 Chevrolet SS for his grandfather’s team Richard Childress Racing to a pole-winning speed of 196.019 mph to secure his first-career pole, and on no greater stage than the Great American Race.
“This is awesome,” said Dillon, who will be making 14th series start and second in the Daytona 500. “It’s nice to get in the car. I feel like this is all for the guys at RCR. I know this is just qualifying, but it is great for these guys.
“It’s been fun so far, we just have to keep it going. I just had to hit my shifts then I knew I could hold the wheel straight for two laps. Luckily I didn’t mess it up. We knew we had a fast car. We came down here and we brought it back”.
Dillon came out as the 39th of 49 cars to make a qualifying attempt on Sunday and knocked Greg Biffle off of the top spot. Martin Truex, Jr. was one of the last cars to make a qualifying run and just missed edging out Dillon for the top spot, taking the outside pole with a speed of 195.852 mph driving the No. 78 Chevrolet with Earnhardt-Childress Racing horsepower under the hood.
“Front row that is what we are here for today,” said Truex, Jr. “I can’t say enough about this team. What a great job I think we have got about seven miles on this car. One run yesterday, no testing down here, just an amazing job.
“ECR engines front row, we are lucky to have them under the hood. Really excited about the rest of Speedweeks.”
Biffle hung onto the third qualifying spot, followed by Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman.
Both Dillon and Truex, Jr. are locked into the top two spots for Sunday’s Daytona 500, the remaining spots to be determined by the finishing order of Thursday’s nights two Budweiser Duel qualifying races.
Sunday’s race will mark the first time the No. 3 had competed in the Sprint Cup Series since Dale Earnhardt was killed in the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 while driving the “3”. Following Earnhardt’s death, car owner Richard Childress vowed to never run a car with the No. 3 again.
But since his early racing career including championships in the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series, Dillon has used the “3” on his own race cars in honor of Childress, who used the number as a driver until he retired in 1981.
The pressure couldn’t have been greater on Dillon, with so much attention focused on the return of the No. 3 and the legendary image that goes with it. Already before coming to Daytona, Dillon knew it would difficult for some of Earnhardt’s more faithful fans to accept anybody behind with wheel of the No. 3.
“You just try and stay focused,” said Dillon. “Everybody wants to see this number perform well. That’s what my goals are is to stay focused. It’s a long season. There’s a lot of ups and downs, and this is one of the top points, obviously starting off like this, so you want to carry that momentum going forward. But for me, I just have to stay grounded and have fun.”
As if seeing the No. 3 back on the track wasn’t enough for Childress, he now gets to see his grandson lead the field to the green flag in NASCAR’s most historic event.
“The 3 is special to all of us,” said Childress. “The family, the Earnhardt family to every one of us, but I think it’s special because Austin, our family is in the car. You know, the emotion will fly if the 3 rolls in there (to victory lane) on Sunday. I won’t hold it back, I promise.
“We wanted to put on a good show with the No. 3 and couldn’t be more proud of everybody and have another ECR engine with Furniture Row on the outside (No. 78 driven by Martin Truex Jr.). That makes us all proud.”
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona 500 Qualifying – Feb. 16, 2013
1. Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 196.019 mph
2. Martin Truex, Jr., Chevrolet, 195.852 mph
Only the top two are locked in on time.
3. Greg Biffle, Ford, 195.818 mph
4. Carl Edwards, Ford, 195.712 mph
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6. Brad Keselowski, Ford, 195.296 mph
7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 195.211 mph
8. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 195.042 mph
9. Ricky Stenhouse. Jr., Ford, 195.004 mph
10. Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 194.919 mph
11. Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 194.894 mph
12. Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 194.776 mph
13. Aric Almirola, Ford, 194.658 mph
14. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 194.637 mph
15. Joey Logano, Ford, 194.582 mph
16. Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 194.582 mph
17. Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 194.574 mph
18. Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 194.574 mph
19. Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 194.544 mph
20. Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 194.523 mph
21. Kyle Busch, Toyota, 194.502 mph
22. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 194.477 mph
23. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 194.422 mph
24. Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 194.410 mph
25. Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 194.380 mph
26. Trevor Bayne, Ford, 194.334 mph
27. A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 194.108 mph
28. Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 194.078 mph
29. Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 194.066 mph
30. Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 193.815 mph
31. David Gilliland, Ford, 193.736 mph
32. Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 193.732 mph
33. Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 193.594 mph
34. Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 193.428 mph
35. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 193.365 mph
36. Eric McClure, Ford, 192.905 mph
37. Brian Vickers, Toyota, 192.798 mph
38. Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 192.695 mph
39. Cole Whitt, Toyota, 192.538 mph
40. David Ragan, Ford, 192.328 mph
41. Michael McDowell, Ford, 192.291 mph
42. Terry Labonte, Ford, 192.135 mph
43. Josh Wise, Ford, 192.061 mph
44. Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 191.493 mph
45. Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 190.480 mph
46. Ryan Truex, Toyota, 190.347 mph
47. Alex Bowman, Toyota, 189.685 mph
48. Morgan Shepherd, Toyota, 189.542 mph
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