Mike Dillon on stady by for rick Mast at charlotte

[Busch Grand National Series driver Mike Dillon will be on stand-by for No. 14 Conseco Pontiac driver Rick Mast, who is suffering from the effects of food poisoning, according to A.J. Foyt Racing. Mast will start tonight's race. There is no firm plan as to when, or if, a driver exchange will take place. Mast will make the decision based on how he feels after starting the Coca-Cola 600.]

MIKE DILLON, RELIEF DRIVER, NO. 14 CONSECO PONTIAC GRAND PRIX:

(WHERE WAS HE WHEN HE WAS ASKED TO FILL-IN FOR MAST?) "I was at my grandmother's 85th birthday party. I got a phone call from Kevin Hamlin (crew chief, No. 3 Chevrolet) and Philippe (Lopez, crew chief, No. 14) asking me if I'd be interested. I turned the car around right then and went to the house and started making phone calls. I'm excited. It's always excited to get to run a Winston Cup race."

(HOW EASY WAS IT TO GET THROUGH RACE TRAFFIC TO GET HERE?)  "We drove
straight in.  The only trouble I had - and I had it all week long - was at
the tunnel.  There's one guy back there, for some reason, that's got it in
for me.  He won't let me through, so I had to walk through."

(HOW DOES HE MENTALLY PREPARE TO RUN A WINSTON CUP RACE ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE?) "They call you and tell you you're going to get to run a Winston Cup race - I'm ready. It flips a switch. It's pretty exciting. And then to get to drive a car for A.J. Foyt and great sponsor like Conseco, it's pretty cool."

(HIS GOAL TONIGHT) "The main thing is for me is to keep the car in one piece for these guys and get the best finish I can get for them, so they'll have a car left at the end of the night. Their main thing is to have Rick Mast in the car driving. But Philippe gave me the go-ahead if I like the way it feels to drive it hard, and I will. But if it doesn't suit me I'm not going to go out there and try to do something stupid with it."