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Santerre, Dillon Part Ways

Austin Dillon, the NASCAR Camping World Series East points leader, has parted ways with car owner Andy Santerre.

Dillon’s No. 3 Garage Equipment Supply Chevrolet has moved in-house to Team Dillon Racing’s shops in Welcome, N.C. The 18-year-old Lewisville, N.C., driver – the grandson of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner Richard Childress – competed in the first four events of the 2008 partnered with Andy Santerre Motorsports in Harrisburg.

Dillon won in his NASCAR Camping World Series debut in the season opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina, and has two top fives and three top 10s in four starts while based in ASM’s shops, performance was not an issue. He also earned the Coors Light Pole Award in the combination race with the NASCAR Camping World Series West at Iowa Speedway.

“For most of the guys on our team, it was an hour driver to Harrisburg everyday,” Austin Dillon said. “If we needed parts, or our crew chief Lance Deiters needed anything at all from the Team Dillon Racing shops, we were using hours every day driving between shops. We got off to a great start with ASM. I like to work on the cars myself so for all of us the move is just for the better.”

Austin’s father Mike Dillon, owner of Team Dillon Racing – created by Richard Childress Racing as a driver and crew development program – said the partnership with Santerre gave his team a great start. Also the Director of Competition for the Richard Childress Racing, Dillon indicated the change of base for his son’s NASCAR Camping World Series East team has been seamless.

“We’ve got our same team, our same crew chief and our same cars,” Mike Dillon said. “It’s just a change in where we work everyday, and now we’re closer to home. Our younger son, Ty, started racing in 2006 and we expect him to move up next year, so it just made sense for 2009 to bring our program in-house now and keep building from there.”

Ty Dillon, who will turn 17 next February, has been racing and winning in Bandoleros, Legends and dirt Late Models over the past two years, following the same development course as his brother Austin.

Santerre, who as a driver won an unprecedented four consecutive NASCAR Camping World Series East championships 2002-2005, called the change “a tough decision” that in the end benefits young Dillon’s future.

“We’ve had great success with Austin, and he’s a great driver,” Santerre said. “We think he’ll move up rather rapidly. Ty is coming up behind him, too. There was a lot of equipment, parts, and crewmen moving between Welcome and Harrisburg everyday. Mike and I started re-evaluating what we were doing after Watkins Glen (the series most recent event on June 8), and came to a tough decision. In the end it was better for Team Dillon Racing to move to their home-base in Welcome.”

Andy Santerre Motorsports moves forward as a one-car operation for the foreseeable future, with driver Peyton Sellers, 24, of Danville, Va., in his No. 44 Casella Waste Systems Chevrolets.