By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Winning the 60th Daytona 500 was not only a special time for Austin Dillon, but also for one lucky fan by the name of Jordan.
The relationship between driver and child began before the Advanced Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway. Before the event, Dillon participated in an autograph session with no favorite driver in mind. Dillon gave Jordan the hat off his head and wanted a promise from the fan.
“I was wearing a hat and I said look, if I give you this hat, I’m going to be your favorite driver now, right? And he was like yeah. And so here’s the deal, I’m going to sign it and give it to you but I’m your guy. And he was like, for sure,” Dillon stated.
“So I handed him the hat and didn’t think nothing of it. It was like I got a new fan, obviously, he’s going to follow me forever because he’s probably eight, nine, or 10 years old.”
After the autograph session, Dillon and Jordan met in the garage. During that second meeting, Jordan handed Dillon a penny to place in the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. That penny proved to be lucky. Dillon made it through the Clash without any damage, and told Jordan that he would place it his car for the 500.
The luck of the penny proved to be true one week later in the Daytona 500. Dillon was able to secure victory entering into the third turn on the final lap. Although he claims to not be superstitious, Dillon credits the penny for his second career win.
“It was a lucky penny. Put it in the car, and it’s sitting on the dash right now, and it’s pretty special. I think that’s really cool,” Dillon stated post-Daytona 500. “I’ve never been that superstitious in my life, but my grandfather is very superstitious, so I listened to him in the race, I ran the bottom more, I found a lucky penny, and it just worked out tonight, I guess.”
During the same press conference, Dillon sent out a plea to find Jordan and bring him to the track the next morning for the champion’s breakfast. That plea for help was answered on Wednesday.
After the race, Jordan’s grandmother called the race track in order to get the picture of her grandson and Jordan at the autograph session. After the track reached out to Dillon’s public relations representative, Jordan and Dillon were able to talk on the phone. Dillon expressed that he would do anything for him.
What Dillon did not know was that the conversation continued between Jordan’s family and his PR representative.
“So, Jackie kind of continued the conversation with the family and I didn’t know she was continuing that conversation. FOX and RCR came together, flew them up to RCR and I did an interview the next morning when we got home and I was just thinking it was a regular interview,” Dillon stated. “I sit down, I start the whole interview and he comes up beside me and says ‘you’re welcome.” And I’m like… that is cool. I had no clue he was going to be there it was a total surprise.
Dillon showed Jordan around the race shop and put him in the race car. The reunification was a humbling experience for Dillon and made him realize how blessed he was. During the visit, the team gave him a basket with a t-shirt and diecast. Dillon was surprised with how mature Jordan was.
“This is an 11-year-old kid, some 11-year-old kids that I’ve seen don’t act like he did. He was real quiet and taken back by the whole thing instead of just like having fun. He was really just thankful. When we gave him the basket, it was just me, my Dad, Jackie and his Grandmother in a room and we gave him the basket and he started like tearing up on me,” Dillon stated.
“I’m like gosh man, holy cow, it’s just a t-shirt to me, but to him it was something else. That was the most emotional part of the whole weekend. After that, I told him, I said look buddy, if you need anything, like anything at all you call me. If you want to go into racing something, if you need anything just let me know.”
After the shop tour, Dillon and Jordan hopped on a helicopter and went to film Race Hub at the Fox Sports Studio in Charlotte.
While it was a time of jubilation, Dillon was brought back to reality by the experience.
“It was cool to just see how thankful he was to be a part of that and I take it for granted too much and he made me come back to reality and just see how cool it was for him.”