Austin Dillon Sets Date for Series Return

Getty Austin Dillon sets another Truck Series start.

The 2011 Truck Series champion is back for another start. Austin Dillon will make his return to the series for the first time since 2019, and he will make a one-off start while preparing for a unique Cup Series race.

According to the NASCAR Roster Portal, Dillon will suit up for the Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt on Saturday, April 16 (8 p.m. ET, FS1). He will join Young’s Motorsports and drive the No. 20 entry that has previously featured Dillon Steuer, Sheldon Creed, Matt Mills, and Danny Bohn as drivers during the 2022 Camping World Truck Series season.

Dillon will make only his 72nd Truck Series start during the trip to Bristol Motor Speedway and his first since the 2019 season. He previously joined NEMCO Motorsports for the trip to Martinsville Speedway, and he turned in a 13th-place finish. Dillon also made a one-off start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Young’s Motorsports No. 20 during the 2018 season, and he finished 10th overall.

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Dillon Will Reunite With a Familiar Crew Chief

GettyAustin Dillon races at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the 2018 season.

According to the Roster Portal, Dillon will have a familiar face atop the pit box during the trip to Bristol Motor Speedway. He will have Andrew Abbott as his crew chief. The veteran previously guided Dillon to his 10th-place finish during the 2018 season.

Abbott has not celebrated in Victory Lane while working as a crew chief, but he has accumulated several top-10 finishes across the national series while working with a wide variety of drivers. This list includes a pair of third-place finishes in the Xfinity Series — one with Jeremy Clements and one with John Hunter Nemechek.

Spencer Boyd, the driver of the No. 12 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, was the last driver to secure a top-five finish in the Truck Series while working with Abbott. He finished fourth overall during the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway in 2019.

Abbott will now try to guide Dillon to another strong performance. They will pursue this goal together at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where Dillon only has competed on dirt in a Cup Series car. He finished 21st in the inaugural Food City Dirt Race.

Dillon Has Achieved Solid Success in Truck Series Races

GettyAustin Dillon celebrates a win at Eldora Speedway in 2013.

While the North Carolina native has only started 71 total races in the Truck Series, he has still achieved a significant amount of success. For example, Dillon posted five seasons with at least one trip to Victory Lane.

This run started during Dillon’s first year as a full-time driver (2010). He started all 25 races in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, and he reached Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway before ending the season fifth in points.

Dillon kept the winning streak going during his second full-time season (2011). He added victories at Nashville Superspeedway and Chicagoland Speedway while posting a total of 16 top-10 finishes and 10 top-fives. Dillon ended the year as the champion after edging out Johnny Sauter by a mere six points.

Dillon moved up to the Xfinity Series in 2012 after sealing his title, but he did return to the Truck Series after one year away. He made a limited number of starts from 2013 to 2019 and he won three more races. He captured the dirt race at Eldora Speedway in 2013, Pocono Raceway in 2014, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2015.

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