Austin Dillon Finishes Sixth in the Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway

The inaugural winner of the Mud Summer Classic, Dillon made his third start in NASCAR's lone dirt event. Utilizing the day's two practice sessions, Dillon spent most of the afternoon working with his No. 31 Dow AgroSciences Chevrolet team to perfect their Silverado's drive off the corner. Randomly selecting a late qualifying draw, the Dow AgroSciences team knew they would have a challenge to overcome as the track slowed down as the session progressed. Ultimately recording the 15th-quickest time, Dillon was placed in the fifth qualifying race, where he finished second and secured the 10th starting position for the race. When the green flag waved, Dillon immediately began racing through the field. Taking the lead by lap five, Dillon continued to pace the field until lap 12 when he lacked traction on a restart. Lacking enough drive off the corners, the Dow AgroSciences team made their only pit stop of the night during the lap-60 break. With a spring-rubber and track-bar adjustment, Dillon returned to the track in the third position. The caution-filled event featured three- and four-wide racing on restarts, but Dillon opted to save his equipment until it was 'go-time.' Restarting in the third position for a green/white/checkered finish, Dillon dove to the inside of the track, taking it four wide entering Turn 1. Fighting a tight truck with just two laps to get to the checkered flag, Dillon ultimately crossed the finish line in the sixth position.

Austin Dillon on Eldora Speedway:

"It was a pretty good race. We just weren't good enough at the end when it counted. We worked hard on it and had a lot of fun. I have to thank Dow AgroSciences for coming on board and Bob [Newberry] and NTS Motorsports for supplying us with a truck. We'll take it and will try to do something better the next time."

NTS Motorsports PR