Austin Dillon brings No. 3 back in big way - wins pole for Daytona 500 - MotorSportsTalk

The No. 3 is No. 1.

In the first appearance of the legendary No. 3 in qualifying for a Sprint Cup race since the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, rookie Austin Dillon couldn’t have scripted it any better, putting the fabled car number on the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Dillon, 23, covered the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway racing surface in a top speed of 196.019 seconds at 45.914 seconds.

“This is awesome,” Dillon said. “You just try and stay focused. Everybody wants to see this number perform well, and that’s what my goals are, to stay focused.

“Luckily, I didn’t mess it up. We knew we had a fast car, we came down here and we brought it back. So it’s good.”

Team owner – and Dillon’s grandfather – Richard Childress beamed like he hasn’t since the days Earnhardt was winning six of his career seven Cup championships while driving for Childress.

“I couldn’t be more prouder for Austin, Gil (crew chief Gil Martin) and all the guys that worked so hard this winter to come down here and run good,” Childress said. “We wanted to put on a good show with the (No.) 3 and couldn’t be more prouder for everybody.”

Martin Truex Jr., driving the single-car effort from Furniture Row Racing, will sit alongside Dillon on the front row for the 56th running of the Great American Race on Feb. 23.

“To have another ECR engine with Furniture Row on the outside, that makes us all proud,” Childress said.

Dillon, the fifth rookie in Sprint Cup history to win the pole for the 500, was the only driver to exceed 196 mph in the 49-car qualifying field.

It marks the fourth time in the history of the fabled No. 3 that it has sit on the pole for the Daytona 500. Buddy Baker did it first in 1969, followed by Ricky Rudd (1983) and Earnhardt (1996).

Dillon and Truex highlighted a RCR-powered juggernaut that placed five cars in the top 12 on the speed charts. Ryan Newman was fifth fastest (195.707 mph), Paul Menard was 10th (194.919) and Brian Scott was 12th (194.776).

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Austin Dillon brings No. 3 back in big way — wins pole for Daytona 500

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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