Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Shane Lee, Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan will share the seat in 2018
WELCOME, N.C. (January 24, 2018) – Richard Childress Racing announced its No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro SS entry for the 2018 NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) will feature a talented multi-driver lineup. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) drivers Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon, ARCA Racing Series competitor Shane Lee, second-generation racer Jeb Burton and two-time NXS winner Brendan Gaughan will all share time behind the wheel of the Camaro SS throughout the season.
Austin and Ty Dillon will be in the rotation of drivers for the No. 3 Chevrolet for the 2018 season. Austin Dillon is no stranger to the XFINITY Series, earning the Series championship in 2013. The eldest Dillon brother has 17 career poles awards, eight wins, 62 top-five and 99 top-10 finishes in the Series throughout his racing career. Ty Dillon, also a Series veteran, has collected four poles, 32 top-five and 86 top-10 finishes. He won at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014.
Shane Lee, a 24-year-old native of Newton, North Carolina, will share seat time as he makes his XFINITY Series debut this season. In 2017, Lee completed his first season of full-time competition in the ARCA Racing Series and placed third in the driver championship point standings. He also has three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts under his belt.
Jeb Burton, son of former Cup Series driver and Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton, will also climb into the Camaro SS for select races. Burton has a 2013 NCWTS win on his resume along with seven top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in the XFINITY Series. He is the nephew of former RCR driver Jeff Burton and has also logged laps in both NXS and MENCS competition.
The 2018 season will also see the return of veteran driver Brendan Gaughan, marking his seventh year of competition with RCR. After scaling back from full-time competition at the end of 2017, Gaughan will return to race at two of his favorite race tracks, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 11th and Elkhart Lake’s Road America on August 25th. Throughout his NXS career, Gaughan has earned two top-10 finishes at Mid-Ohio and has scored a win and four top-five finishes at Road America.
“Our goal with the multi-driver Chevrolet Camaro SS is to win races and put ourselves in a position to be in the NASCAR Playoffs at the end if the season to compete for the owner’s championship,” said Richard Childress, Chairman and CEO of RCR.
The multi-driver Chevrolet Camaro SS will compete in all 33 races of the series season. Veteran crew chief Nick Harrison will lead the team from atop the pit box.
About Richard Childress Racing:
Richard Childress Racing (rcrracing.com) is a renowned, performance-driven racing, marketing and manufacturing organization. Incorporated in 1969, RCR has earned more than 200 victories and 17 championships, including six in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with the legendary Dale Earnhardt. RCR was the first organization to win championships in the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Its 2018 Cup Series lineup includes two-time NASCAR champion and 2017 Coca-Cola 600 winner Austin Dillon (No. 3 Dow/American Ethanol/AAA Chevrolet) along with 2008 Daytona 500 champion and 2013 Brickyard 400 winner Ryan Newman (No. 31 Caterpillar/Grainger/Bass Pro Shops & Cabela’s/Liberty National Chevrolet). Its XFINITY Series program includes a multi-driver lineup with the No. 3 Chevrolet, first-year RCR driver Matt Tifft (No. 2 Chevrolet) and second-year XFINITY Series driver Daniel Hemric (No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet).
