In his 26th Nationwide Series start — in his first full season in the series — Austin Dillon administered an emphatic, definitive, no-doubt-about-it beating to 42 also-rans in Friday night’s Feed the Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
How decisive was Dillon’s first Nationwide victory? Consider this:
Dillon led 192 of 200 laps, most ever by a Nationwide race winner at the 1.5-mile track.
He beat runner-up Kurt Busch to the finish line by 9.828 seconds.
Dillon and seven other drivers finished on the lead lap, despite a mass wave-around for a restart on Lap 150 after the second caution of the race.
When that caution interrupted a series of green-flag pit stops, after Dillon had built a lead of more than seven seconds, he simply ran away from the field after the restart.
Just after the halfway point, on Lap 106, Dillon put Elliott Sadler, the series leader entering the race, a lap down. With his dominating win, Dillon wrested the points lead from Sadler and carries a two-point cushion to Daytona, site of the July 6 Nationwide race.
And, oh, by the way: Kevin Harvick, Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier completed the top five. For Annett, it was his first top-five finish in 120 Nationwide starts.
- Brad Keselowski inches closer to Victory Lane - April 23, 2024
- Tyler Reddick takes checkered in wild Talladega finish for Michael Jordan’s first win while in attendance - April 22, 2024
- McDowell captures pole for Sunday’s race at Talladega - April 20, 2024