BULLS GAP -- It was never a question whether Austin Dillon of Lewisville, N.C., would drive a race car. After all he grew up around the sport of auto racing since he's the grandson of legendary NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and the son of former NASCAR Busch Series driver Mike Dillon.

Racing dirt late models over the last couple of years has proved to be a good hands-on developmental program for paving the road to future success in hopefully the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Austin.

Competing full-time in 2008 with the NASCAR Camping World East Series, Dillon bolted out the gate strong by winning his first-ever entered NASCAR event back in April at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway. He currently sits atop the series' point standings heading into the June 27 Camping World East event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

But in the years ahead the 18-year-old Dillon will fondly look back and the success he enjoyed racing on the high banks at Volunteer Speedway. Dillon captured his first Super Late Model feature win at the East Tennessee track in 2007, and Saturday night he passed pole-sitter Rick Rogers for the lead on lap 34 of the "Late Model Showdown at The Gap" 40-lap main event, and once out front he would not be denied the $2,000 victory.

Rogers and Shanon Buckingham led the stellar 23-car field to the green, with Rogers jumping into the lead over Buckingham as he carried the momentum off the high-side racing off turn two on the opening lap, with Brad Neat, Dillon and Tommy Kerr in tow. A strong run early in the race for Neat came to a premature end on the ninth circuit when he slowed with mechanical problems exiting the fourth turn and dropped to the inside coasting down the front straightaway and into the infield pits at the turn one entrance.

With Rogers flexing his muscle out front, Dillon quickly closed to the rear bumper of Buckingham and began pressuring him for the runner-up position, while just behind them the action was heated between Kerr, Mark Douglas, Mark Vineyard, Bryan Hendrix, Kerry Jones, 1988 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, and Vic Hill.

Vineyard passed Douglas for fifth on lap 12, and one circuit later he advanced to fourth in the running order by moving past Kerr. Douglas quickly moved back into the top-five by passing Kerr for fifth on lap 14, and with the door open Hendrix seized the opportunity and moved past Kerr taking over the sixth spot.

With Hill, Scott James, Elliott and Mike Smith all running in tight quarters battling for position, James and Hill made contact racing hard into the third turn on lap 17, sending Hill sliding up the track between turns three and four. After reeling his mount back in, Hill was hard on the throttle when he and Elliott tangled in the fourth turn which ended the night for the 44-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Elliott with front-end damage to his car.

With the field lining up for a Delaware Double-File Restart, Rogers was all alone out front in the lead, with Buckingham and Dillon side-by-side just behind, with Vineyard and Kerr in row two. Rogers accelerated off the fourth turn with the waving of the green, with Buckingham and Dillon racing hard into the first turn battling for second. Driving in hard on the bottom, young Dillon made his car stick and racing off the second turn he moved past Buckingham and set his sights on the race leader Rogers.

As the leader Rogers began working lapped traffic, Dillon closed to his rear bumper. Using a strong run racing off the bottom of turn two, Dillon pulled alongside Rogers racing down the backstretch into the third turn. Dillon powered around Rogers racing off the fourth turn on lap 34, and once out front he never looked back en route to sprinting to the checkers for the $2,000 victory.

Dillon was followed across the stripe at the finish by Rogers, Buckingham, Vineyard and John Gill, who started 17th). Completing the top 10 finishers were Hendrix, James, Justin Rattliff, Douglas and Jones.

"Man, was that an exciting race or what," exclaimed the jubilant teenager after climbing from his car in victory lane onto the roof with his arms stretched high into the night sky shouting. "This was a very strong field of cars here tonight, and the way the 44-car (Rick Rogers) jumped out to such a commanding lead early in the race I was just kind of hoping to be able to get around (Shanon) Buckingham for second-place. There on the double-file restart I knew that was my time to go ... to try and get past Buckingham for second. We raced off hard into the first turn and I got around him and I really thought with a clear track ahead I might have something for Rogers."

The Fastrak Racing Southeastern Touring Series for Crate Late Models made its first of two scheduled appearances in 2008 at Volunteer Speedway for the companion event in the Late Model Showdown at The Gap.

Shanon Buckingham of Morristown set fast-time (13.455) over the 37 Fastrak Racing Series competitors present representing five states (North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee), but following the kids' draw among the top-6 qualifiers he was relegated to the third starting position for the $2,000-to-win 40-lap feature.

The top-12 from qualifying were locked into the starting lineup for the feature, with three heat races and one last chance consolation determining the remaining starting positions in the 24-car field. Royce Bray of Hull, Ga., won the first heat, with Maryville's Steve Jones easily winning the second heat, with Chad Pearson of Athens, Ga., winning the third heat. Will Shuffler of Morganton, N.C., won the last chance consolation.

Luke Laney and Ty Dillon led the field to the green, with 16-year-old Dillon jumping into the lead over Laney, Buckingham, Lee Cooper and Jonathan Davenport.

Racing off turn two on lap 20, Buckingham passed Dillon for a lead he would never relinquish.

Mike Hodges of Morristown held off a hard-charging Dale Reed for his fifth Hobby Stock feature win of the season, with Dustin Shaver, Chuck Johnson and Everett Cobb rounding out the top five finishers.