# Mike Dillon (racing driver)

Mike Dillon (born February 1, 1965) is an American former professional stock car racing driver for Richard Childress Racing and the current general manager for the team after having raced in all three national series. He is the father of Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon and the son-in-law of Richard Childress.

## Racing career
### Winston Cup Series

Dillon made one Cup Series start in his career. Subbing for the injured Mike Skinner, he qualified the No. 31 Lowe's Chevrolet in the 27th position in the 1998 Fontana race. Dillon struggled in the race, finishing 35th, 11 laps down.
Dillon also competed in the 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 as a relief driver for Dale Earnhardt, finishing the race after Earnhardt blacked out on the first lap.

### Busch Series

Dillon made his NASCAR debut in 1995. That year he ran five of twenty-six races for Richard Childress Racing in the No. 12 Kennametal/Salem National Lease Chevrolet, making his debut at Hickory, where he started 12th and finished 16th. He would make his next start at Myrtle Beach, getting his first career top-10 starting spot of 9th, before leading 5 laps en route to a 17th-place finish. He would then follow it up with an 18th-place result at South Boston Speedway. Dillon crashed out of the other two races, with a 42nd at Charlotte and 29th at Rockingham. However, he did beat his best career start with an 8th place start in Charlotte.
Dillon ran for NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1996 in the No. 72 Detroit Gasket Chevy for Parker Racing, but only made 21 of 26 races and struggled to 23rd in points. He earned his first career top-10 of 10th at South Boston.
Dillon made all the races in 1997, and finished 15th in points. Still running in the #72, Dillon scored his first career top-5 at Dover. He also added on a pair of 6th and a 10th to have 4 top-10 finishes. Dillon set his career best start of 4th at Richmond, and also led 21 laps at Gateway before a late crash.
Dillon's best career season came in 1998. He had 2 top-5s and 7 top-10s en route to 12th in points. The two top-5s were a 4th at Hickory (led 54 laps) and a 5th at Watkins Glen International.
In 1999, he moved to the #59 Kingsford team owned by ST Motorsports. He did not qualify for two of the races and that relegated him to 16th in the final points. In addition, Dillon only had one top-10, with a 7th place coming at Watkins Glen. Despite the lack of top-10s, Dillon stayed in 16th in points largely because he finished all but two of his races.
In 2000, Dillon moved back to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), driving the newly formed #21 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet. Dillon did not improve that much, as he did not qualify for the season ending race at Miami, and his best finishes were a pair of top-10s. (9th at Daytona and 8th at Dover). The result was 23rd in points.
Dillon's driving career ended in 2001 after getting injured in a wreck at Bristol Motor Speedway. Before then, Dillon had no top-10s and his best 2001 finish was 18th at Atlanta. The following was a quote from RCR:
   "Richard Childress Racing (RCR) named Mike Skinner as the driver for its BGN #21 Rockwell Automation team this weekend at Texas while fulltime driver Mike Dillon recuperates from injuries sustained from a March 24 crash at Bristol. "Mike (Dillon) took a hard lick at Bristol so he's pretty sore and stiff," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises, Inc. "He also took a hard lick a couple of weeks ago testing in Nashville. Everyone knows racing at Texas Motor Speedway can be very tough. So, to do what's best for our team and for Rockwell Automation, we've asked Skinner to step in for now to get the job done." None of Dillon's injuries were serious and a CT scan proved negative. His status will be reevaluated after this weekend."
Dillon was more injured than originally thought, and eventually, Dillon quietly stepped aside from the team. Mike Dillon currently serves as the General Manager of Richard Childress Racing's three NASCAR Cup teams. Beginning in 2007, Dillon was the spotter for the Richard Childress owned #33, then driven by Clint Bowyer.

### Craftsman Truck Series

Dillon made three career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, all for Richard Childress. In 1997, Dillon made his debut at Phoenix driving the #33 Realtree Chevy, where he started 29th and finished 26th.
The other two starts were in 1999, running at Watkins Glen and Milwaukee. The 26th in '97 would remain his best finish as he finished 30th at the Glen and 32nd at Milwaukee. However, he did set his career best start of 24th at Watkins Glen.

## Personal life

Dillon's sons Austin and Ty compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. Mike is the son-in-law of Richard Childress.

## Motorsports career results
### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NWCC | Pts | Ref |
| 1997 | Richard Childress Racing | 3 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | TEX | BRI | MAR | SON | TAL | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | CAL | DAY | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR RL$^†$ | RCH | NHA | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | CAR | PHO | ATL | | NA | - | n/a |
| 1998 | Richard Childress Racing | 31 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | BRI | TEX | MAR | TAL | CAL 35 | CLT | DOV | RCH | MCH | POC | SON | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | NHA | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | TAL | DAY | PHO | CAR | ATL | 66th | 58 | |
| $^†$ – Relieved Dale Earnhardt in race. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

#### Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | NBSC | Pts |
| 1993 | | | | DAY | CAR | RCH | DAR | BRI | HCY | ROU | MAR | NZH | CLT | DOV | MYB | GLN | MLW | TAL | IRP | MCH | NHA | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | ROU | CLT | MAR | CAR | HCY DNQ | ATL | | | | | | NA | - |
| 1995 | Richard Childress Racing | 12 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | NSV | DAR | BRI | HCY 16 | NHA | NZH | CLT | DOV | MYB 17 | GLN | MLW | TAL | SBO 18 | IRP | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | CLT 42 | CAR 29 | HOM | | | | | | | | 54th | 449 |
| 1996 | Parker Racing | 72 | Chevy | DAY 15 | CAR 32 | RCH 23 | ATL 14 | NSV 20 | DAR 26 | BRI DNQ | HCY 26 | NZH 25 | CLT DNQ | DOV 38 | SBO 10 | MYB 21 | GLN 19 | MLW 33 | NHA 23 | TAL 29 | IRP 21 | MCH 35 | BRI | DAR 22 | RCH 18 | DOV 28 | CLT DNQ | CAR 15 | HOM DNQ | | | | | | | | 23rd | 1945 |
| 1997 | Parker Racing | 72 | Chevy | DAY 18 | CAR 31 | RCH 14 | ATL 26 | LVS 10 | DAR 27 | HCY 16 | TEX 13 | BRI 31 | NSV 34 | TAL 15 | NHA 35 | NZH 21 | CLT 14 | DOV 19 | SBO 15 | GLN 18 | MLW 31 | MYB 6 | GTY 19 | IRP 11 | MCH 38 | BRI 30 | DAR 39 | RCH 16 | DOV 4 | CLT 33 | CAL 6 | CAR 23 | HOM 21 | | | | 15th | 3008 |
| 1998 | Parker Racing | 72 | Chevy | DAY 24 | CAR 8 | LVS 7 | NSV 42 | DAR 6 | BRI 31 | TEX 14 | HCY 4 | TAL 17 | NHA 19 | NZH 15 | CLT 21 | DOV 15 | RCH 37 | PPR 24 | GLN 5 | MLW 16 | MYB 20 | CAL 10 | SBO 16 | IRP 14 | MCH 13 | BRI 40 | DAR 40 | RCH 26 | DOV 19 | CLT 18 | GTY 32 | CAR 7 | ATL 33 | HOM 24 | | | 12th | 3250 |
| 1999 | ST Motorsports | 59 | Chevy | DAY 18 | CAR 19 | LVS DNQ | ATL 13 | DAR 34 | TEX 28 | NSV 18 | BRI 32 | TAL 26 | CAL 13 | NHA 32 | RCH 13 | NZH 21 | CLT DNQ | DOV 16 | SBO 27 | GLN 7 | MLW 35 | MYB 30 | PPR 27 | GTY 31 | IRP 23 | MCH 19 | BRI 23 | DAR 31 | RCH 27 | DOV 13 | CLT 12 | CAR 33 | MEM 18 | PHO 37 | HOM 27 | | 16th | 2795 |
| 2000 | Richard Childress Racing | 21 | Chevy | DAY 9 | CAR 17 | LVS 22 | ATL 19 | DAR 13 | BRI 37 | TEX 38 | NSV 37 | TAL 34 | CAL 28 | RCH 19 | NHA 36 | CLT 18 | DOV 32 | SBO 20 | MYB 37 | GLN 19 | MLW 25 | NZH 37 | PPR 20 | GTY 32 | IRP 12 | MCH 22 | BRI 32 | DAR 21 | RCH 17 | DOV 8 | CLT 20 | CAR 36 | MEM 27 | PHO 31 | HOM DNQ | | 23rd | 2743 |
| 2001 | Richard Childress Racing | 21 | Chevy | DAY 29 | CAR 19 | LVS 18 | ATL 20 | DAR 28 | BRI 37 | TEX | NSH | TAL | CAL | RCH | NHA | NZH | CLT | DOV | KEN | MLW | GLN | CHI | GTY | PPR | IRP | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MEM | PHO | CAR | HOM | 56th | 525 |

#### Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | NCWTC | Pts | Ref |
| 1997 | Richard Childress Racing | 33 | Chevy | WDW | TUS | HOM | PHO | POR | EVG | I70 | NHA | TEX | BRI | NZH | MLW | LVL | CNS | HPT | IRP | FLM | NSV | GLN | RCH | MAR | SON | MMR | CAL | PHO 16 | LVS | 114th | 85 | |
| 1999 | Richard Childress Racing | 8 | Chevy | HOM | PHO | EVG | MMR | MAR | MEM | PPR | I70 | BRI | TEX | PIR | GLN 30 | MLW 32 | NSV | NZH | MCH | NHA | IRP | GTY | HPT | RCH | LVS | LVL | TEX | CAL | | 79th | 140 | |