HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 18, 2011 – High Point University students Austin and Ty Dillon both won major car racing titles this season. Austin placed 10th in the final race of the season on Friday, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Ty won the ARCA championship in October.
Austin is a junior majoring in Communication at High Point University. Ty is a freshman majoring in Business.
Leading the point standings going into the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, Austin needed to place 16th or better to clinch the championship. He placed 10th in his Bass Pro Shops and Richard Childress Racing black No. 3 Chevrolet.
“We definitely worked hard this year and accomplished this as a team,” said Austin in an article on motorsport.com. “This was our goal at the beginning of the year and no one ever gave up.”
“I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt,” said team owner Richard Childress, the Dillons’ grandfather in an article on NASCAR.com. “I had the same feeling [Friday] watching my grandson.”
Austin held off Johnny Sauter to win the championship. Sauter won the final race but couldn’t make up the point-standings gap. Austin won two races and finished in the top five 10 times in 2011. He was named the truck series Rookie of the Year in 2010.
Austin’s championship came on the heels of his brother’s ARCA title, which he completed with a second-place finish at the Federated Car Care 200 at Toledo Speedway on Oct. 16. Ty won seven races in 19 starts to easily outdistance runner-up Chris Buescher.
“I can’t believe it,” said Ty Dillon in an article on ARCAracing.com after winning the title. “The youngest champion in ARCA history. Somebody needs to pinch me or something. That just says how great this team is. I can’t thank my grandpa, my dad, and everybody enough for the opportunity. This Chevrolet was fast. Bass Pro Shops and Johnny Morris came on board for the last race and we put on a good show for them.”
Ty also raced in three Camping World Truck Series races this season, placing a career-best third, one spot behind Austin, at the WinStar World Casino 350k at Texas Motor Speedway on Nov. 4.
Both Dillon brothers earned the same distinction by winning their respective series: at 21, Austin became the youngest Camping World Truck Series champ. Ty, 19, became the youngest ARCA winner.
Next season, Austin will move up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series while Ty will move up to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.℠ HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with over 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students from 51 countries and 46 states at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report at No. 3 among Regional Colleges in the South. Forbes.com ranks HPU in the top 7 percent among “America’s Best Colleges.” Parade Magazine lists HPU in the top 25 private schools in the nation. HPU was selected in the 2010-2011 list of “Colleges of Distinction,” as well as one of the top green schools in the country by the Sierra Club. The university offers 50 undergraduate majors, 43 undergraduate minors and 10 graduate degree programs. It is accredited by the Commission of Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the Web at highpoint.edu.
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Pam Haynes
Communication Specialist
336-841-9055
[email protected]