Dillner's progression as a driver throughout the 2008 season came as she battled among the top drivers in the series on a weekly basis to the very end. In fact, she finished second to the series champion, Clint King at Peach State.
“I've definitely seen myself grow not just as a Pro Challenge driver, but as a racecar driver in general,” said Dillner. “Bandoleros are a great way to start, but they're completely different than Pro Challenge cars. I had to learn to shift in these cars, learn how to pass people on the outside in these cars and handle a lot more power. It's been a real good learning experience.
“As far as finishes go, even though I didn't always have the best of luck sometimes, every week when I come off the racetrack, people came up to me after the race and said I've done a lot better since I started. Those comments really mean a lot to me. Plus I need to thank my crew, including Dustin (Archer, crew chief), Duke (Matt Kentfield, spotter) and everyone, especially all my sponsors, especially MAC Tools, Buffalo Wild Wings of Concord, NC, Racing Electronics and Chevrolet.”
But the way Dillner captured her best series finish was a story in and of itself. After starting sixth on the grid, Dillner spun in some fluids on the track early on, but still was able to blast her way through the field to second place. Even though she ran out of laps before she could catch King, the runner-up finish did more than just put a smile on the young driver's face.
“It was a very wild race, it all started when someone put down some oil early on. I ended up getting into it and I spun on the backstretch. It was a blessing that I had the spin because there was a huge wreck in turns three and four on the next restart. We missed that wreck and we came in to the pits and made some adjustments to the car. I had to come back through the field, but it was fun being able to do it to get my best finish in the Pro Challenge Series.”
Dillner's BDI Racing teammate Kyle Plott also suffered a bit of bad luck early in the Peach State race by getting involved in a big crash on an early restart when oil was dropped on the track by a slower car. Plott was running second at the time, but he and several others found themselves spinning and crashing in the oil. Luckily, Plott escaped the melee with minimal damage to fight back up to gain the lead mid-race. But, the slight damage that was incurred in the early mishap came back to bite the native Georgia driver. Plott finished fourth.
“We went into three and four not knowing there was oil down there and Brandon (Williamson) and I both lost it,” said Plott of his early spin. “A bunch of cars piled up into me, but it didn't mess up the car too bad. It kind of shifted the rear-end over to the left a little bit, making the car really tight. Going on the long runs, like in those last 30 laps, it was real hard on me physically because it was pushing really bad. I tried all I could to hold it on the bottom of the track, but that's all we had that night.”
While Dillner and Plott were able to escape the early fracas without too much harm, BDI Racing's newest development driver, Chad Finchum, was not as lucky. Finchum had the lap-four melee cleared, but a car behind him could not slow in time and pushed Finchum's #151 Chevy Silverado truck into the crash, where another car got airborne and landed on the nose of Finchum's machine. Finchum escaped unharmed, but the 14th -place finish was not quite as sweet as the runner-up finish he saw in his first Pro Challenge start at Lonesome Pine Raceway (VA) last month.
“I saw the #20 car (Williamson) spin and I started to go low," recalled Finchum of the crash. "I saw (Kyle) Plott spin, so I was like, 'okay, low isn't going to work.' So I tried the middle. Somehow in that bunch, the #3 car (Trevor Edwards) came out of nowhere right in front of me. I locked up the brakes and got a hit from behind. I went into the #3 car and I closed my eyes and didn't see anything after that. Then the car came to a rest and I was like 'okay, the wreck is over, maybe we can finish the race.' Then some car fell on top of me and I was like, "Hello!' And that's pretty much all I saw.
"I believe if we would have finished he race, we would have gotten a top five. But we did alright I guess, outside of the wreck.”
The 2008 Pro Challenge Series season is now over for the BDI Racing team. The crew will now go to work preparing their fleet of cars for the 2009 season with intentions of capturing the Pro Challenge National Championship. Opportunities to partner with the BDI Racing team for the 2009 season are still available.
Based in Concord , North Carolina , BDI Racing is a full-service short track development team that offers a “total package” approach to building strong racers both on the track and off. BDI Racing has a full fleet of cars from Quarter Midgets, Bandoleros, Legends Cars, Pro Challenge Series cars and Super Late Models. Opportunities are available in all facets of BDI Racing's organization for the entire 2009 season.
Marketing opportunities for the BDI Racing team and its driver development program are currently available for events 2009, as well. For more information on how partnering with BDI Racing can provide a multitude of benefits for companies of all sizes, contact the team at (704) 788-2134 ext: 7.
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