Austin Dillon will stand by as a possible relief driver for Kevin Harvick in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400. Harvick and his wife, DeLana Harvick, are expecting their first child, and there’s a possibility the baby may be born Saturday, which also is DeLana Harvick’s birthday. ‘Happy birthday @DeLanaHarvick could be an interesting one,’ Harvick posted on his Twitter account just before noon ET on Saturday. Dillon flew home to North Carolina after finishing fourth in Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race, intending to race Late Models before heading for a Nationwide event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, according to sources close to the situation. But Dillon was returning to Daytona on Saturday in case his services were needed. Harvick said in his Thursday media availability at Daytona that he didn ‘t have a back-up arranged, but apparently that changed as the weekend progressed.(NASCAR Wire Service)(7-7-2012)
UPDATE: Delana Harvick tweeted Saturday afternoon, ‘Back in [North Carolina for] precautionary reasons, but all is well w/ *#babyotis, & I! plan is 4 @KevinHarvick to race tonight, w/ @austindillon3on standby ‘.(7-7-2012)
UPDATE: NASCAR will not allow Austion Dillon to fill in for Harvick if needed. He tweeted, ‘Well scratch the back up driver I ‘m not eligible because I ‘m a Rookie oh well that stinks I ‘ve already ran two cup races’. The reason given was that a rookie needs to have practiced the car prior to the race and he has not run a Cup car at Daytona. Richard Childress Racing has received approval for Kenny Wallace to serve as the standby driver.(7-7-2012)
