Dillon quickly making a name for himself in NASCAR

Autoracing Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Look out NASCAR, there's a promising young gun on the horizon.

Austin Dillon is looking more and more like the next big up-and-comer in the sport after winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in dominating fashion on Sunday at Iowa Speedway. His first win came in just his 12th truck start. Dillon also set a record at Iowa by becoming the first rookie in the series to win three consecutive poles.

At age 20 years, two months and 37 days, Dillon became the second-youngest race winner in the 16-year history of the series, behind Kyle Busch, who won at Charlotte in 2005 when he was 20 years and 18 days old.

After leading 187 of 205 laps and holding off NASCAR veteran Johnny Sauter in a two-lap overtime finish, Dillon drove the famed black No.3 in victory lane at Iowa, which was a delight to many race fans around the world.

"It's pretty awesome," Dillon said. "I've wanted to do it for the fans too. I know they want to see it out front, and that's the only way people really want to appreciate it if it's run well, I think. I've put enough pressure on myself to go out and do the best I can every time I get in that truck, and this just proves that we can do it. I'm glad it's the No.3. It's my favorite number to run, and hopefully I can run it for a long time."

Not since the days of Dale Earnhardt have we seen a black-colored vehicle with the No.3 on it win a race in any one of NASCAR's top-three series. Earnhardt made the 3 one of the most popular icons in NASCAR while driving for team owner Richard Childress from the early 1980's until his untimely death during the 2001 Daytona 500.

Dillon is Childress' grandson.

Earlier this month, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway, driving the iconic Wrangler blue and yellow paint scheme No.3 Chevrolet. Earnhardt Jr. had a one-race deal with Richard Childress Racing to drive the car in honor of his late-father's recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

"It's just one of these great days, and to be back in [victory lane] with the 3 last week was special with Dale Jr., but [Sunday] was really special," Childress said after Dillon's win at Iowa.

Childress made the trip to the 0.875-mile track, located roughly 35 miles east of Des Moines, IA, following Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Currently sitting in the seventh spot in the truck standings, Dillon is far from being counted out of the championship. He trails leader Todd Bodine by 267 points. Dillon is almost certain to receive rookie of the year honors in the series this year, and will take the next career step by graduating to either the Nationwide or Sprint Cup Series in 2011.

"We've kind of sat down and planned out next year," Dillon said. "I'm planning on running the Truck Series again next year, running for a championship again, which I'm really excited for. I think that's the way we need to approach it, is try and get more experience.

"We did win the race [Sunday]. I know everybody wants to move up quick. I feel we're at a point right now where we can take our time. My grandfather is the same way. We don't want to rush things, move up too fast. Just puts you in a bad situation. That's the plan for so far, is to run the Truck Series."

After brief stints in trucks, several drivers, including Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards, quickly elevated to Cup, and did so with a great success.

Busch recorded four victories during his sophomore Cup season, and then went on to win the inaugural championship Chase in 2004. Edwards won four races and finished third in points during his first full season in NASCAR's top-tier series in 2005.

Dillon made his first two truck starts in 2009, with his debut coming last September at Iowa. He originally qualified for the October race at Talladega, but had his time disallowed after his truck did not meet the minimum height requirement during post-qualifying inspection.

He has also made seven Nationwide starts so far, the recent coming last month at New Hampshire, where he drove the No.21 RCR Chevrolet to a 25th-place finish.

Since the start of the season, Dillon has continued to show improvement, finishing no worse than fifth in the last three truck races. Don't be surprised to see him in victory lane again before the end of this year, and rest assured that he's on his way to becoming one of the next big stars in NASCAR.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds

Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it. Work left to do: Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney. Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson. Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable. Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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