The No. 3 car driven by Austin Dillon is number 1 again at Daytona 500 after taking home the victory Sunday night. Dillon won driving the No. 3 Chevrolet which was also driven by Dale Earnhardt for most of his career.
Earnhardt was behind the wheel of the No. 3 when he won his only Daytona 500 in 1998, he was killed in an accident on the final lap of the race three years later. Dillon won the 60th "Great American Race" cementing his place in racing history.
Following his victory, Dillon said, "My grandfather has done everything for me and everybody knows it. There's a lot of pressure on me to perform because I've had a little bit of everything. But I like that pressure, the same with the No. 3, there's a lot of pressure behind it, but I'm willing to take it and go with it."
"I think I blacked out and just everything just kind of kept going, and we were staying in the gas, and things were happening fast. The last lap of the Daytona 500, you just don't lift, actually the last couple laps," Dillon continued. "I guess I could have lifted and gave it to him."
"I guess that was my other option, give up a Daytona 500 ring that I'm wearing. If he needs to do it to retaliate at Talladega for everybody to feel good, I've got a Daytona 500 championship trophy, ring, whatever. I don't care. I've got the 3 back in victory lane at Daytona."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congrats <a href="https://twitter.com/austindillon3?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@austindillon3</a> on becoming a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Daytona500?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Daytona500</a> champion. #3 in VL after 20 years. Pretty solid for <a href="https://twitter.com/RCRracing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RCRracing</a>!!</p>— Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaleJr/status/965370340540145664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Dillon's victory even earned him praise from the son of the former driver of the No. 3 car, Dale Earnhardt Jr. on Twitter.
<i>On Twitter:</i>
<a href="https://twitter.com/ErvinProduction">@ErvinProduction</a>
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Source: http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/22495546/austin-dillon-wins-daytona-500-no-3
