March to the XFINITY Chase begins Saturday at Daytona
RCR in the XFINITY Series at Daytona International Speedway… In 69 Series starts at the 2.5-mile track, RCR has captured six victories with drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2002 and 2010), Kevin Harvick (2007), Clint Bowyer (2009), Tony Stewart (2013) and Austin Dillon (2015). The Welcome, N.C. organization has completed 7,617 laps of the 7,710 (98.8 percent) that they have competed. RCR has accumulated four pole awards, 29 top-five and 42 top-10 finishes, led 589 laps and averages a starting position of 10.9 and finishing position of 11.4.
RCR in the XFINITY Series … In 1,213 XFINITY Series starts dating back to 1995, RCR has earned 62 pole awards, 75 wins, 384 top-five and 686 top-10 finishes with an 11th-place average starting position and an 11.9 average finishing position. RCR has earned four driver's championships; two with Kevin Harvick in 2001 and 2006, Clint Bowyer in 2008 and Austin Dillon in 2013. The organization has also earned five owners' championships doing so in 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
2016 Driver Line-Up … RCR will field four full-time XFINITY Series entries in 2016. Austin Dillon and Paul Menard will share seat time in the No. 2 Chevrolet with crew chief Danny Stockman. Ty Dillon and crew chief Nick Harrison again partner up this season with the No. 3 Chevrolet team. New to the full-time driver line up this year, Brandon Jones will pilot the No. 33 Chevrolet with crew chief Mike Hillman, Jr. Brendan Gaughan also returns to the driver's seat with RCR with Shane Wilson at the helm.
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Catch the Action … Coverage of this weekend's XFINITY Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway will be televised live on Saturday, February 20, beginning at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on FOX Sports 1. It will also be broadcast live on Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM channel 90.
This Week's Rheem Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Austin Dillon will pilot Chassis No. 174 in the Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. This is a new Chevrolet Camaro that will be utilized for the first time this weekend.
Dillon at Daytona … In six previous XFINITY Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Dillon has earned one victory (2015), five top-five finishes and two pole awards. The RCR driver holds an average starting position of 10.2 coupled with an average finishing position of 6.7.
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Welcome Back … Dillon, the 2013 XFINITY Series Champion and 2012 Rookie of the Year, returns to regular XFINITY Series competition this season. After competing in 20 XFINITY Series events in 2015, Dillon plans to run a majority of the scheduled races this season under the RCR banner with Rheem. He is a six-time race winner in the XFINITY Series and 16-time pole winner, holding the record for most consecutive poles in series history with seven.
Experience on Top of the Box … Veteran NASCAR crew chief Danny Stockman returns in 2016 to work with a multi-driver lineup that includes Dillon and Paul Menard. The Dillon-Stockman duo dates back to 2010 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The pair earned the 2011 Camping World Truck Series driver's championship followed by the 2013 NASCAR XFINITY Series driver's championship. Together, Dillon and Stockman have recorded 12 victories including back-to-back wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway last season in the XFINITY Series.
Slingin' Dirt … As speedweeks ramped up for 2016, Dillon spent any time away from the track at Volusia Speedway racing his No. 3 dirt modified for Team Dillon Racing.
"Sprint Cup Series drivers and crew chiefs have always paid attention to the Saturday XFINITY race, but I think you'll see more of it this year. By running the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday, I can gather good information that I can use on Sunday.
This Week's Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Dillon will pilot chassis No. 173 for this weekend's Powershares QQQ 300 at DIS. This is a brand-new chassis in the Richard Childress Racing stable.
Dillon in the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Daytona International Speedway … In five XFINITY Series starts at the superspeedway, Dillon has two top 10 finishes.
RCR and Bass Pro Shops together for 21st season … Bass Pro Shops will be featured on the hood of the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro for select races this season, its 21st season as primary sponsor with Richard Childress Racing. The relationship dates back several decades between outdoorsman, conservationist and Bass Pro Shops founder, Johnny Morris, and Richard Childress.
Slinging Dirt … Prior to Daytona Speedweeks, Dillon raced at Volusia Speedway Park in the annual DIRTcar Nationals behind the wheel of the No. 41 Florida Lottery Chevrolet for family-owned Team Dillon Racing.
Meet Dillon … Fans will have several opportunities to meet Dillon. He is scheduled to sign autographs on Thursday, February 18 at the UNOH Display in the Fan Midway beginning at 4 p.m. ET, Saturday, February 20 at the Florida Lottery display beginning at 8:45 a.m., and Sunday, February 21 at the Team Chevy super stage at 9:30 a.m.
Our goals this year are pretty simple: win the championship. I am in year three now as an XFINITY Series driver and I have probably the highest expectations of anyone in the garage. We expect to win multiple races, make the new chase format, advance to final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway and win the championship. Our team is capable of doing so.
This Week's Barrett Jackson Premium Auto Care/Menards Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Brandon Jones will pilot Chassis No. 152 in the Powershares QQQ 300 at Daytona International Speedway. This Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro is new for the 2016 season and will see its first competitive laps in Friday's practice sessions.
Daytona Nuggets … This weekend's Powershares QQQ 300 marks Jones first appearance at Daytona International Speedway. Jones has accumulated two starts on tracks larger than two miles in length across the Camping World Truck Series and ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards where he recorded two top-five finishes and seven laps led.
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Happy Birthday, BJones! … Jones will celebrate his 19th birthday on February 18. The No. 33 Barrett Jackson Premium Auto Care / Menards Chevrolet team extend their happiest of wishes to the 2016 XFINITY Series Rookie of the Year contender.
I've been talking with a lot of my RCR teammates and picking their brain about what to expect. Mike (Hillman, Jr.) has been great about talking me through drafting and our plan for the practice sessions. I'm going to go out in our first practice session and get a feel for the car and the track. The No. 33 team will give me a fast machine, so it's up to me to get comfortable and ready for the race on Saturday.
This Week's South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet at Daytona International Speedway … Brendan Gaughan will pilot chassis No. 175 this weekend at Daytona International Speedway for the Powershares QQQ 300. This Richard Childress Racing-prepared Chevrolet Camaro is a new addition to the RCR stable and will make its first laps at Daytona International Speedway during practice Friday.
Daytona Details … In eight XFINITY Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Gaughan has completed 95.1 percent (848 of 892) of the laps he has attempted. The Las Vegas native is credited with one top-10 finish, three laps led, a 20.6 average starting position and a 22.4 average finishing position.
At South Point … South Point Hotel & Casino will host round three of the WORCS Series in conjunction with the MotoCon Expo on February 26-28. WORCS Racing kicked off in 2001 and has established the series as the biggest national off road motorcycle racing series. For more information visit http://ift.tt/1NdGAmj.
Meet Gaughan … Gaughan is scheduled to sign autographs and participate in a Q&A session on Saturday, February 20 at the XFINITY Zone Display in the Fan Midway beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET.
"This season is very different from previous years, in the past you went in with the mindset; this is Daytona everybody wants to win here, but it is just one race and you wanted to get out of there with a good points situation. With the new Chase for the XFINITY Series you can now go to Daytona and really take chances that you couldn't take before. Drivers were always aggressive at Daytona, but now I think you are going to see even more aggression because of this new format."