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Austin Dillon was a consistent performer in 2014. Didn't really show any flashes of greatness like Larson , but he was always the safer bet. Usually had an top 25 car in practice and was able to finish in the teens when the checkers waved.
Plate tracks will likely continue to be a strong suit for Dillon. In 2014 , he finished inside the top 15 at all four races. Dillon understands how to race at both Daytona and Talladega. His experience in NNS pays off big time.
Short tracks was a solid area for Dillon in 2014. Martinsville by far his best short track. He posted finishes of 13 and 15 for an 14.0 average finish. He did what he needed to do. Keep his nose clean. Bristol he had mix results. The spring race , he had a car good enough for mid-teen results. But finished 11th. The summer portion , he finished 7 laps down in 28th. Could use a little improve.
At Richmond , Dillon needs to improve at the most. Had finishes of 20 and 27. Either race did he look anything close to be competitive. Overall he needs to work his short track game. Had an 19.0 average finish in 6 races and only 3 top 15s.
At Flats , Dillon showed consistency for the most part. Had several good runs. Outside of Phoenix , Dillon had an 15.2 average finish and worse finish of 17th. New Hampshire was his best track. Had finishes of 11 and 14. Solid outcomes for a rookie. At Pocono , he had finishes of 14 and 17. Still good. Could use some improvement and try to finish closer to the top 10 in 2015.
Indianapolis was Dillon lone top 10. Kinda interested if he can back that up in 2015. Indy no cake walk for young drivers. His 89.9 driver rating encouraging though. Finally Phoenix was Dillon worst track. Had finishes of 24 and 38. Wasn't very competitive in either race. The second Phoenix race Dillon had a flat and caused him to go behind the wall for repairs. Don't remember the reason why. Was running about 20-ish at the time.
Road courses went better for Dillon then I initially expected. At Sonoma , Dillon finish 17th. Run around 20th all race long though. At Watkins , Dillon had a high-teen competitive type car. But faded on the longer runs. Eventually finished 17th. Not terrible for Dillon who isn't known for his road courses abilities.
Intermediate racetracks Dillon needs to definitely improve at. They are a big bulk of the schedule. In 2014 , he had an 18.3 average finish and 1Top 10. Dillon biggest issue was backing up a solid result. Also he didn't have many top 15 results. In year 2 , he needs to take those top 20s and turn them into Top 15s. Otherwise Dillon pretty much useless in fantasyland.
We don't have a lot to go on with Dillon. Young drivers don't have the race data for us to make an accurate and fair judgement. Especially since usually the more race data= more accurate predictions. Based on his first full season , Dillon will be strong on plate track and flats. Questionable on short tracks and Intermediate tracks. Realistically I could see a sizeable improvement from year 1 and year 2. If there gonna be any viewable improvements , expect it to on the high-speed Intermediate tracks. Probably was his biggest weakness in 2014.
Twitter - @MattAleza
