Texas II: Austin Dillon preview

This Week's Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway ... Austin Dillon will pilot chassis No. 006 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stable in this weekend's WinStar World Casino 350k. This chassis was built in-house by the Bass Pro Shops team this season and is a proven contender in NCWTS competition, as Dillon won with this Chevrolet at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from the pole position in September. In addition to Vegas, this chassis has been used in competition on one additional occasion, in its maiden voyage at Chicagoland Speedway in August, where Dillon finished ninth after starting second.

Raybestos Rookie Contender ... Dillon is currently the leading candidate for the 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year award and has earned Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors in 15 out of 22 races.

Meet Austin ... Dillon will meet race fans at the Chevrolet Display at Texas Motor Speedway at 1 p.m. on Friday.

All About Points ... With three races remaining in the 2010 NCWTS, Dillon is fifth in the championship point standings, just seven markers in arrears of Matt Crafton in fourth.

AUSTIN DILLON:

Texas is one of the few tracks the Truck Series travels to twice. Does having experience there help?

"It definitely helps to have experience at the track. I really like Texas, and I think the first race here was really a turning point for our team. It's when we really started gelling together. We had a really fast truck there in April, and I was able to earn my first pole award and finish third. We're bringing an even better truck to Texas this time around -the same truck I ran at Vegas when we won, so I think we have a good chance at improving on our April finish."

What are your expectations for the rest of the season?

"I feel like we can use these last three races to be really strong and gain some points back. We've slipped to fifth, and I would really like to make sure we stay in the top five. I plan to really go after them the next three weeks, and my goal is top-five finishes. Definitely at Phoenix and Texas I know we can do that. Since I have never been to Homestead, I don't really know what to expect, but our mile-and-a-half program has been really solid this year, so I am really excited about it."

Danny Stockman, Crew Chief of the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet

You've had a lot of success at Texas in the past...

"I've been a part of winning six races at Texas -four consecutive wins with Brendan Gaughan in 2002 and 2003 and two consecutive wins with Ron Hornaday in 2008. And, Austin was very fast here in April, earning his first pole award and finishing third. The key to success there is to keep the truck tight enough in the race, so that the driver can race around traffic. Texas is a very fast track that has a lot of grip but the weather will be really, really hot so the truck has to be tight enough to run side-by-side. There is a fine line between tight and too tight, so we will explore that line during practice. We want the truck to be tight enough for Austin to hold it wide open as long as he can."

-source: rcr