#33- Austin Dillon traded in his drivers fire suit for a Thunderbird pilots G-suit and felt firsthand what his favorite movie, ‘Top Gun’ called ‘the need for speed.” Dillon, who went up Tuesday on an Air Force F-16 with a Thunderbirds pilot, races with a ‘Top Gun”-themed helmet with the word Maverick on it, just like the Tom Cruise character in the movie from 1986 four years before he was born. ‘Flying upside down was really awesome’ the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion said. ‘I was kind of comparing things and asking (the pilot) questions on how truthful the movie was. Its cool to go out there and see what its really like.” The Thunderbirds are in town to perform a flyover at Daytona International Speedway for Sundays Daytona 500. Dillon went straight up 11,000 feet after takeoff from Daytona Beach International Airport, then over to Cape Canaveral where he flew upside down, experienced loops and all the aerobatics moves the team does in an air show. ‘That was awesome’ Dillon said when he first got off the aircraft at about noon, showing the Thunderbirds crew his empty sick bag. ‘I didnt have to use it. That was fun. That was so crazy.”( Daytona Beach News Journal )
