Childress extends family connection to famed number

MADISON, N.C. — NASCAR fans often ask Richard Childress when he'll bring back the black No. 3 Chevrolet made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt.

Fans who attended last Saturday's dirt-track races at 311 Speedway know the answer. And they know that Childress, who has said since Earnhardt's death that it would take a unique situation to bring back the best-known number in NASCAR, stayed true to his word.

The driver he chose to run No. 3 is young and talented, clean-cut and polite and thinks the world of Childress. He's Childress' oldest grandson, Austin Dillon.

Based on the way he drove in his first Super Late Model race, there may come a day when Dillon is behind the wheel of a similar-looking car in NASCAR.

In his first try in dirt racing's elite division, Dillon qualified fifth from a field of more than 30, then drove like a veteran, broad-sliding through the corners, stepping on the accelerator to make the car turn and challenging the drivers in front of him on almost every lap.

Childress watched from the top of the team hauler, just as he has done for decades during Nextel Cup races. Every pass brought a big smile to his face.

"He's driving the heck out of it," Childress said. "He's doing good for a 16-year-old kid."

After each of the three features, Childress climbed from the hauler to offer encouraging words to his grandson, who calls him "Pop-Pop."

"How was it?" Childress asked Dillon after he finished seventh in the first of two features.

"Intense," Dillon responded as he hurried to clean his visor for a second run.

It was a typical exchange for Childress, who dotes on his grandsons, Austin and Ty, who is two years younger than Austin and beginning his own racing career. They are the sons of Mike Dillon, a long-time Busch Series driver, and Childress' daughter, Tina.

Ty arrived at the track late for his brother's race because he raced his Legends car at a nearby speedway. As soon as he arrived, Childress and Ty huddled beside the hauler and watched his Legends feature race on a camcorder.

Despite the busy schedule that comes with running a multi-car NASCAR team and other businesses, Childress carves out time for his grandchildren.

"He does everything he can to get with us," Austin said. "When he's with us, we're everything. He shows a bunch of attention to us, and we love it."

Mike Dillon said Childress has been a big influence on the boys.

"Family is real important to Richard," Mike Dillon said. "And he has played a big role in their manners. He has taught them by example."

Mike Dillon and Childress never pushed the boys to race, instead supporting them when they played baseball, soccer and other sports. But that all changed about the time Ty turned 13.

"We were watching Speed Channel one day and saw Bandoleros and Legends cars racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway," Austin said.

Their next step was to approach their grandfather about a couple of race cars. Childress said Ty made the initial call. The conversation went something like this.

Ty: "Pop-Pop, I'm 13 now."

Childress: "Yeah you're a teenager now, congratulations."

Ty: "You know you told us to tell you when we got ready to go racing."

Childress: "If you're ready, we'll get you some race cars."

Ty chose No. 21, the number his father ran in Busch. Austin asked Childress if he could use the number Childress used during his driving days.

"I said, 'Austin, my number was 3,'" Childress said. "He said, 'I know, I want to run your number.'

"Although Earnhardt made it famous, that's the same number and the same style that I ran when I was driving in the '70s all the way up to '81."

So Childress bought the first Bandoleros, and the boys were off to the races. Childress insisted that the skills they'll need for NASCAR are best learned on dirt.

"Earnhardt and all the people who really do good and are successful in NASCAR know how to race on dirt," Childress said.

Childress said he has instructed his grandsons' coach, veteran dirt-track racer Dale McDowell, to give the boys a car capable of running between fifth and 10th place. That way they'll learn how to race in traffic and pass other drivers.

So far, Austin and Ty seem to have the passing part figured out.

"If the car's there, they do it," Childress said.

The grandsons have different driving styles — Ty is calculating and smooth; Austin is more aggressive — but both say they're aiming to race in NASCAR's elite divisions.

And Austin could one day have to decide whether he's up to running the most famous car number in NASCAR, which is owned by his granddad.

"It is pretty intimidating," he said. "A lot of people talk to me about it and ask me if I'm going to go to NASCAR in the 3. A lot say I should."

But he knows that many NASCAR fans think that number should be reserved for an Earnhardt, specifically Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"If anybody should have that number, it should be maybe Junior, but I could run that number in NASCAR," Austin said.

For now, having a black Chevrolet with the slanted No. 3 on a dirt track, driven by an aggressive young driver trying to make a pass in every turn, seems to bring great satisfaction to Childress. He watched the late Earnhardt make similar moves while winning races and championships in Cup cars.

"I think it has to be a special deal to bring back the 3, and to me this is a special deal," Childress said.

Rick Minter writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: rminter AT ajc.com.