Austin Dillon and the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet brought home a well-deserved seventh-place finish in Saturday afternoon’s Nashville 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. Making his first NASCAR Nationwide Series start for the 2011 season at the 1.333-mile track, Dillon kept the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet in the top-15 for the entire 225-lap event, producing a top-10 finish for the team.
Dillon was sure to make his introduction at KHI one to remember as he went out to qualify for the event and laid down the third fastest lap. When the green flag dropped, Dillon was on the wheel heading for the front.
Maintaining the fourth position in the opening stages of the event, Dillon reported being loose off the corners. The first caution flag dropped at lap 51 and the Rheem Chevrolet was headed to pit road. At lap 54 the 43-car field came back to green with Dillon in the second position after picking up two spots on pit road while taking four tires and fuel.
Maintaining a top-five position, the Rheem Chevrolet continued to battle loose conditions and needed to return to pit road for adjustments. Dillon held on strong until the field started to hit pit road for green-flag stops. Crew chief David Hyder brought the driver down pit road on lap 115 to find a solution to the loose conditions, making an air-pressure and chassis adjustments in addition to four tires and fuel.
After the field cycled through the round of green-flag stops, the No. 33 team was sitting in the seventh-position. On lap 134 the second caution flag of the afternoon waved and Dillon reported that the car was handling much better. The team came down pit road for fuel and elected to take only two right-side tires. Dillon’s pit crew once again picked up spots on pit road and put him in fourth-place for the restart at lap 138.
With two caution flags over the next 15 laps, Dillon fell back into the eighth position as he did not get the pickup he was looking for on the restarts. With a third caution flag at lap 170 for debris, the No. 33 team brought the Rheem Chevrolet down pit road for a tear off, four fresh tires and a can of fuel to make it to the end. No adjustments were needed as Dillon was comfortable with the handling of the KHI machine.
With 52 laps to go, Dillon restarted the race ninth and dropped back to the 12th position when the final caution flag flew at lap 178 for an accident involving the No. 62 car. Eager on another restart, Dillon was able to capitalize on the final laps, picking through the field and gaining five positions, bringing the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet across the finish line in seventh place.
The No. 33 Nationwide team will return to action next weekend at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway for a Friday night showdown with driver Paul Menard behind the wheel. Catch the action live on SPEED at 7:30 p.m. EST.