CP MOTORSPORTS - CLEAN AIR, FAST CAR PROPELS DILLON TO XFINITY WIN

 

Matt Sullivan/NASCAR via Getty Images
Austin Dillon, driver of the #33 Rheem Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, 2015 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

In NASCAR, clean air is key.

Austin Dillon used the clean air to dominate Saturday's Hisense 300 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dillon led 163 of the scheduled 200 laps on his way to his second victory of the Xfinity series season.

The victory is Dillon's first Xfinity win at Charlotte and his fourth in the series overall.

"The car was so good I didn't want to get out of it," Dillon told reporters in Victory Lane. "It was a heck of a race at the end with Denny (Hamlin) and Kasey (Kahne). I had to go when we got in lapped traffic. I knew the tires might go, and I might not make it happen."

Dillon started from the pole, led 183 laps and won earlier this season at Las Vegas. All four of his wins have come when starting on the pole.

The 25-year old North Carolinian knows winning in front of the home crowd is a big deal.

"It's huge," Dillon admitted. "I talked to Bob (Pockrass) earlier in the weekend about North Carolina drivers that are still in the sport. I know in the Cup series there are only two of us, me and Junior. I got my brother coming up in the Xfinity. It's huge for our North Carolina boys to take home our trophy in our state, so it's very special on Memorial Day weekend, also. Very pleased; a lot of friends and family here.

The race's final restart on lap 166 saw Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, challenge and take the lead from a dominant Dillon. Hamlin was able to lead 19 laps but ultimately took the checkered flag with a second place finish.

"It's a special moment for sure."

The race's final restart on lap 166 saw Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, challenge and take the lead from a dominant Dillon. Hamlin was able to lead 19 laps but ultimately took the checkered flag with a second place finish.

Hamlin, who won $1 million dollars last week at Charlotte in the Sprint All-Star Race, knew beating Dillon would have been a tall task.

"Those guys have got some fast cars," Hamlin said. "You do your best to try to hold them off, but similar to when I ran in this No. 54 car at Vegas, Austin (Dillon) was just two, three tenths faster than the field and those RCR cars are strong and you just as an organization you've got to get a little bit better. So you learn and see where you need to get better."

Kasey Kahne, driving the No. 5 Armour Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, ran up front for most of the race and finished in third place. Regan Smith and Darrell Wallace, Jr, rounded out the top five finishers. Austin Dillon's brother Ty Dillon finished in sixth place.

Regan Smith, Darrell Wallace, Jr, Daniel Suarez, and Ty Dillon all qualified for this season's edition of the "Dash4Cash" program, which is a program designed to be a unique competition between Xfinity series championship eligible and could allow for a driver to win $1 million dollars.

Ty Dillon all qualified for this season's edition of the "Dash4Cash" program, which is a program designed to be a unique competition between Xfinity series championship eligible and could allow for a driver to win $1 million dollars.

Ty Dillon won big in last season's edition of the "Dash4Cash".

"It's an awesome program Xfinity is putting back on," Ty Dillon said. "I think everybody in the offseason was real worried that the series might go away, but I think everybody's jacked up again. I was fortunate enough to win it last year when I won Indianapolis, and it's a huge added bonus for everybody."

Last week's winner at Iowa, Chris Buescher, finished in 11th and maintained his Xfinity series points lead by just four points over Ty Dillon. Last season's Xfinity Champion Chase Elliott is 28 points back in third as the series heads to Dover next weekend.


NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Number 11
Unofficial Race Results for the 34Th Annual Hisense 300 - Saturday, May 23, 2015
Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300 Miles - Purse: $1,157,940

Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Winnings    Status    Tms    Laps
1    1    33    Austin Dillon(i)    Rheem Chevrolet    200    0        150.0    $70,854    Running    4    163
2    4    54    Denny Hamlin(i)    Monster Energy Toyota    200    0        118.0    $45,242    Running    1    19
3    8    5    Kasey Kahne(i)    Armour Vienna Sausage Chevrolet    200    0        113.5    $35,150    Running    1    1
4    15    7    Regan Smith    Anderson's Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet    200    40        92.5    $34,424    Running        
5    2    6    Darrell Wallace Jr. #    Cheez-It Ford    200    40    1    119.9    $35,548    Running    1    1
6    19    18    Daniel Suarez #    ARRIS Toyota    200    39    1    96.4    $29,090    Running    1    1
7    9    3    Ty Dillon    Bass Pro Shops/NWTF.org Chevrolet    200    37        93.7    $27,577    Running        
8    16    9    Chase Elliott    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    200    36        99.6    $27,640    Running        
9    11    1    Elliott Sadler    OneMain Financial Ford    200    35        93.0    $25,831    Running        
10    12    22    Ryan Blaney    Discount Tire Ford    200    34        85.5    $25,997    Running        
11    14    60    Chris Buescher    Roush Performance Products Ford    200    33        82.3    $24,514    Running        
12    10    16    Ryan Reed    Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford    200    32        80.0    $23,983    Running        
13    24    51    Jeremy Clements    RepairableVehicles.com/AllSouthElectric.com Chev    200    31        75.1    $23,375    Running        
14    13    88    Kevin Harvick(i)    Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet    200    0        100.2    $16,895    Running    1    11
15    7    20    Erik Jones(i)    GameStop Toyota    200    0        92.3    $23,170    Running        
16    18    43    Dakoda Armstrong    WinField Ford    200    28        70.1    $22,287    Running        
17    21    01    Landon Cassill    Flex Seal Chevrolet    200    28    1    67.6    $22,060    Running    1    4
18    17    62    Brendan Gaughan    South Point Chevrolet    199    26        72.7    $21,832    Running        
19    6    98    Aric Almirola(i)    Carroll Shelby Engine Co. Ford    199    0        74.5    $15,806    Running        
20    3    2    Brian Scott    Shore Lodge Chevrolet    197    24        88.1    $22,255    Running        
21    25    28    JJ Yeley    Texas 28 Spirits Stage Toyota    196    23        58.5    $21,554    Running        
22    32    44    David Starr    Zachry Toyota    196    22        55.1    $21,497    Running        
23    30    8    Blake Koch    Toyota    196    21        53.8    $21,448    Running        
24    22    39    Ryan Sieg    Uncle Bob's Self Storage Chevrolet    195    20        59.2    $21,381    Running        
25    28    84    Chad Boat(i)    CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet    194    0        46.5    $15,496    Running        
26    35    90    Jimmy Weller    Geneva-Liberty Steel/myvideolibrary.com Chevrolet    193    18        43.5    $21,311    Running        
27    34    26    Kyle Fowler(i)    Power All Toyota    192    0        46.7    $15,275    Running        
28    38    97    Peyton Sellers #    VroomBrands Chevrolet    192    16        38.0    $21,240    Running        
29    23    25    John Wes Townley(i)    Zaxby's Chevrolet    191    0        56.3    $21,194    Running        
30    36    24    Eric McClure    Hefty Toyota    189    14        33.8    $21,449    Running        
31    20    4    Ross Chastain #    Flex Shot Chevrolet    187    13        58.3    $21,113    Engine        
32    39    52    Joey Gase    Agri Supply Chevrolet    186    12        29.7    $21,067    Running        
33    5    42    Kyle Larson(i)    ENEOS Chevrolet    183    0        94.4    $15,097    Running        
34    26    14    Cale Conley #    IAVA Toyota    146    10        41.5    $20,991    Running        
35    27    0    Harrison Rhodes #    Vecoplan Chevrolet    141    9        46.9    $20,957    Transmission        
36    37    13    Carl Long    Jaret's Angels/Industrial Technologies Dodge    129    8        32.1    $19,499    Engine        
37    33    15    BJ McLeod(i)    BYB Extreme Fighting/Lilly Trucking Chevrolet    58    0        28.3    $18,499    Fuel Pump        
38    31    55    Jamie Dick    Viva Auto Group Chevrolet    45    6        31.9    $17,499    Accident        
39    29    40    Timmy Hill(i)    Braille Battery/Grafoid Toyota    40    0        34.7    $10,499    Electrical        
40    40    19    Jeff Green    TriStar Motorsports Toyota    2    4        29.2    $9,499    Vibration        
 Race Comments:    Austin Dillon won the Hisense 300, his fourth career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 55, 84 (unapproved adjustments).
 Failed to Qualify:    (2) 70 Derrike Cope, 74 Mike Harmon.
 Time of Race:    02 Hrs, 08 Mins, 44 Secs.    Average Speed:    139.824 MPH    Margin of Victory:    2.692 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    3 for 22 laps: Laps: 49-56 (Oil on track from #55 [01]); 111-117 (Debris turn 4 [43]); 160-166 (#26 accident turn 1 [01]).
 Lead Changes:    9 among 7 drivers: A. Dillon(i) 1-98; D. Wallace Jr. # 99; K. Kahne(i) 100; D. Suarez # 101; L. Cassill 102-105; A. Dillon(i) 106-111; K. Harvick(i) 112-122; A. Dillon(i) 123-166; D. Hamlin(i) 167-185; A. Dillon(i) 186-200.
Top 10 Driver Points:     (1) C. Buescher 401;(2) T. Dillon 397;(3) C. Elliott 373;(4) D. Wallace Jr. # 371;(5) R. Smith 360;(6) E. Sadler 352;(7) B. Scott 350;(8) R. Reed 320;(9) D. Suarez # 320;(10) B. Gaughan 309.
3M Lap Leader    : Austin Dillon, #33 163 Laps    Coors Light Pole Award    : Austin Dillon, #33 184.615 mph
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race"    : Austin Dillon, #33     Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Earnhardt-Childress Racing Engines, #33
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Darrell Wallace Jr, #6     Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Darrell Wallace Jr, #6
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    May. 30, 2015 - Dover International Speedway
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