Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Austin Dillon’s grandfather, and Mike Dillon, RCR VP of Competition and Austin’s father, talked with FOX Sports 1 and NASCAR RACE HUB’s Alan Cavanna on Tuesday to share their initial reaction as they witnessed Austin’s wreck Sunday night at Daytona. Following are their remarks:
Richard Childress: “Well, when I saw the car go into the catch fence — I saw the 3 — I knew it wasn’t going to be good. And at that point I just started praying. When he hit the fence, I could see the cage was still intact. And when the 2 car came down through there and hit him as hard as he did, I didn’t know if he (Austin Dillon) already had his belts undone. That probably scared me worse than anything. I just stood there and was praying.
“He’s okay. At 25, he understands the sport. He’s been through it since he was just a little kid. We’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in this sport. That’s what we do for a living. That’s what we all every day get up to do. It’s just part of our job.”
Mike Dillon: “It was somewhat of a heart stopper there because we couldn’t get him to respond on the radio. But after looking at things, it (the impact) ripped everything out of the car … it’s such a tight-knit group, that whole pit road and all the garage. I didn’t get halfway up pit road and guys on other teams came over and said, ‘Hey, he got out and everything’s good.’”
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