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Mike Dillon
Dillon at the2017 Daytona 500
Born	Michael Dillon (1965-02-01)February 1, 1965 (age 60) Lexington, North Carolina, U.S.
NASCARCup Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	66th (1998)
First race	1998California 500 (Fontana)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
154 races run over 7 years
Best finish	12th (1998)
First race	1995Sundrop 400 (Hickory)
Last race	2001Cheez-It 250 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 15 0
NASCARCraftsman Truck Series career
3 races run over 2 years
Best finish	79th (1999)
First race	1997GM Goodwrench / Delco 300 (Phoenix)
Last race	1999DieHard 200 (Milwaukee)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0

Michael Dillon (born February 1, 1965) is an American former professionalstock car racing driver forRichard Childress Racing and the current General Manager for the team after having raced in all three national series. He is the father ofAustin Dillon andTy Dillon and the son-in-law ofRichard Childress.

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Dillon made one Cup Series start in his career. Subbing for the injuredMike Skinner, he qualified the No. 31Lowe's Chevrolet in the 27th position in the1998Fontana race. Dillon struggled in the race, finishing 35th, eleven laps down.

Dillon also competed in the1997Mountain Dew Southern 500 as a relief driver forDale Earnhardt, finishing the race after Earnhardt blacked out on the first lap.

Dillon made his NASCAR debut in1995. That year he ran five of twenty-six races forRichard Childress Racing in the No. 12Kennametal/Salem National LeaseChevrolet, making his debut atHickory, where he started twelfth and finished sixteenth. He would make his next start atMyrtle Beach, getting his first career top-ten starting spot of ninth, before leading five laps en route to a seventeenth place finish. He would then follow it up with an eighteenth place result atSouth Boston Speedway. Dillon crashed out of the other two races, with a 42nd atCharlotte and 29th atRockingham. However, he did beat his best career start with an eighth place start in Charlotte.

Dillon ran forNASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year in1996 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-ten of tenth at South Boston.

Dillon made all the races in1997, and finished 15th in points. Still running in the No. 72, Dillon scored his first career top-five atDover. He also added on a pair of sixth and a tenth to have four top-ten finishes. Dillon set his career best start of fourth atRichmond, and also led 21 laps at Gateway before a late crash.

Dillon's best career season came in1998. He had two top-fives and seven top-tens en route to twelfth in points. The two top-fives were a fourth at Hickory (led 54 laps) and a fifth atWatkins Glen International.

In1999, he moved to the No. 59Kingsford team owned byST Motorsports. He did not qualify for two of the races and that relegated him to sixteenth in the final points. In addition, Dillon only had one top-ten, with a seventh place coming at Watkins Glen. Despite the lack of top-tens, Dillon stayed in sixteenth in points largely because he finished all but two of his races.

In2000, Dillon moved back to Richard Childress Racing (RCR), driving the newly formed No. 21Rockwell 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-tens. (ninth at Daytona and eighth at Dover). The result was 23rd in points.

Dillon's driving career ended in2001 after getting injured in a wreck atBristol Motor Speedway. Before then, Dillon had no top-tens and his best 2001 finish was eighteenth at Atlanta. The following was a quote from RCR:

"Richard Childress Racing (RCR) named Mike Skinner as the driver for its BGN No. 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 theRichard Childress owned No. 33, then driven byClint Bowyer.

Dillon made three career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, all for Richard Childress. In1997, Dillon made his debut atPhoenix driving the No. 33Realtree Chevy, where he started 29th and finished 26th.

The other two starts were in1999, running atWatkins Glen andMilwaukee. 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.

Dillon's sonsAustin andTy compete in theNASCAR Cup Series. Mike is the son-in-law ofRichard Childress.

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

• Mike Dillon driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• Living people
• 1965 births
• Sportspeople from Lexington, North Carolina
• Racing drivers from North Carolina
• NASCAR drivers
• Richard Childress Racing drivers

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