Rookie Austin Dillon dominated the Lucas Oil 200, for his first career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starting from the pole and leading 187 laps Sunday at Iowa Speedway.

He held off Johnny Sauter in a green—white—checkers finish for the win, by a margin of .635 seconds and became the first rookie to win from the pole in Trucks.

Dillon is the 20 year old grandson of legendary NASCAR owner Richard Childress and son of former NASCAR driver Mike Dillon. The win came on his 12th start in Trucks and Dillion is  the second youngest winner in the series.

He's been on a tear of late; winning his third pole in a row at Iowa.

Dillon lead laps, at Texas, Michigan and collected top—five finishes. You knew after that  he was so close to putting it together for a win, and he achieved that win at Iowa.

More importantly Dillon showed his critics Sunday that he belongs, and has the talent to be in NASCAR. 

He silenced those fans that thinks you can't  juggle College with racing and be any good, and my favorites which are the fans that say "He  hasn't shown me anything yet or, that he's only getting the chance because of his Grandpa".  

For me, today was a sweet win to watch happen. Since I've never doubted his talent, I knew this day was coming that this Kid would be a winner in NASCAR.

Dillon in his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet would chose the outside front row over being in the inside line for the win.

On that final restart on Lap 202, Dillon would pass Sauter coming out of turn two and cruise to the checkered flag.

Not only was it an emotional win for Dillon, but the sell out crowd cheered for the rookie and it's just exciting to watch a first-time winner with his team celebrate.

His crew chief Danny Stockman even stopped Dillon's celebration mid-burnout by letting him know that they were taking the truck to Gateway and don't tear it up.

What was even cooler were all the stars of the Series that came to victory lane to congratulate him for the win, and the pride Richard and Judy Childress shared with there grandson.

It was a weird race, since while Dillon dominated  the top four in the points Todd Bodine, Aric Almirola, Timothy Peters, and Ron Hornaday,Jr. all had problems at Iowa.

The points race has tightened up, and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner  will next be racing at Gateway International Raceway Friday night for the Camping World.com 200.

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com

 

I'm on my way, I'm on my way
Home sweet home, tonight tonight
I'm on my way, I'm on my way
Home sweet home.

This verse from Motley Crue's timeless classic song Home Sweet Home , could very easily apply to Ron Hornaday Jr since he driving his RV this week to O'Reilly Raceway Park.

Horn will be doing a rare double dip for Kevin Harvick Inc., running the No. 33 in both the Camping World and Nation races at ORP this weekend.

Since in the Camping World Truck Series, ORP is known as Horn's House by his fans, and he's the only three-time winner at the track.

Horn's known in the series as the king of the short tracks due to his 20 career wins on short tracks.

It's also a track were Horn could end his 22-race winless streak at, and he'll have Ernie Cope on the pit wagon this weekend.

In 10 previous starts at ORP in trucks, Horn has three wins, seven top-fives, seven top-10 finishes, and led 376 laps.

In nine previous starts in the Nationwide, Horn has one win, two top-fives, five top-10 finishes, and led 81 laps.

In 2009, Horn came to ORP having won three consecutive races and the opportunity to make Truck Series history should he win.

Horn did just that, winning his fourth consecutive race in a row, becoming the first to do it in the series. He made bigger history the following week, winning his fifth consecutive race.

He'll have Georgia Boots on his No. 33 Silverado at ORP for Friday night's AAA Insurance 200 and it's the first of three races for Georgia Boots.

Then Saturday night, he'll be piloting the No. 33 Jimmy Johns Chevrolet in the Kroger 200.

"I'm looking forward to running both races, it will be a busy, but fun weekend," Hornaday said.

"ORP is a traditional short track. I love racing there because it reminds me a lot of the tracks I grew up racing on. It eats up tires, it gets hot during the day, and gains grip at night. It's just a fun place to race at."

The two keys to having a successful race at ORP? First, qualify well, then it's all about being able to run through the middle of the corners and being able to come off the turns in the gas.

Horn should qualify strongly in the top-10 and even collect his third pole of the season in trucks.

He'll be racing chassis No. 043 at ORP in Trucks. It's visited victory lane at Martinsville, then finished third at Nashville in its two prior starts.

Then in the Nationwide, Horn will be racing chassis No. 051 and it's finished no worse than sixt, in its previous four starts.

For the AAA Insurance 200, Horn is the favorite to win, he very easily could dominate this race again this season, and no doubt pick up his first win in 2010.

Now in the Kroger 200, he should qualify top-10, run top-10 for the majority of the race, and finish seventh or better.

It's always exciting when Horn makes his rare Nationwide starts for KHI, but even cooler that it happens to be ORP. Let's hope he changes his luck around with a visit to victory lane.

 

Source for quotes and Photo Credit: kevinharvickinc.com