By Nathan Solomon, For the NASCAR Wire Service
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Austin Dillon saw a whole new side of Tyler Rader, his friend and Richard Childress Racing pit-crew member, Thursday at Fort Bragg.
Dillon and Rader visited the Eastern North Carolina base for a hands-on experience with the United States Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, part of the Mission 600 leading into the annual Coca-Cola 600 on May 24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 p.m. ET on Prime Video, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The visit held extra meaning for the RCR duo. Rader, the fueler for Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet, stepped away from NASCAR seven years ago to enlist in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Bragg as part of the 75th Ranger Regiment. And returning to the base he used to call home, Rader spent seven hours Thursday doing exercises he never imagined he’d complete again.
“Getting back here and absorbing back into the military life and kind of getting to do the day-to-day things is surreal,” Rader told NASCAR.com.
The morning started with an escort to the shooting range, where Rader and Dillon worked on their aim with three different weapons: an M4 carbine, a Beretta M9 and finally, an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW). Then, they headed to a field for a howitzer cannon demonstration, where seven soldiers set up and fired the versatile field weapon in just four minutes. Rader and Dillon each fired a round, too.
Afterward, they visited the Devil’s Den Warrior Restaurant for lunch before moving to jump tower demonstrations. The RCR mates started inside the body of a retired C-130 aircraft, where soldiers simulated the process of air drops from over 1,000 feet. Rader then headed for the 34-foot tower, where he suited up for a drop, tethered to a zip line. A trip to the flight simulator ended the day, where both Rader and Dillon tested their aviation skills in Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.
Dillon, who has visited Fort Bragg before, was a sponge. He asked rounds of questions to soldiers hosting each exercise and picked Rader’s brain during escorts around the massive base.
“They’re elite at their job. They train and train until they can’t get it wrong, and that’s one of their sayings,” Dillon told NASCAR.com. “You get cool hints, especially from a shooting aspect. I’m a big shooter, and Winchester is a partner of ours, and learning some handgun tips was really nice today. And yeah, getting a pull back on that howitzer — that was awesome getting to pull the trigger on that.
“What they do and what they sacrifice for our country, and the time spent to be ready, I think, is the biggest thing I love and respect about these guys. … Each one of them have so many crafts that they’ve learned in a trade that you can’t anywhere but here in the Army.”
Rader said he enjoyed scratching the itch of jumping again, but admitted he actually hated it during his time as a Ranger — a mission he completed at least 14 times. His favorite part of the day, as Dillon agreed, was the hour and a half spent on the shooting range.
Of course, the two NASCAR Cup Series athletes were ready to compete. They went head-to-head as other members of the travel party shot beside them, with Rader naturally coming out on top.
“He’ll admit to that,” Rader said. “We should have got a picture of the groupings, but yeah, just kind of going out there and poking fun. And honestly, I haven’t shot like that in years, so to do that again was awesome.”
And upon arriving at Fort Bragg, Rader immediately found a friend. First Sergeant Omar Melendez, who led the group tour around the base, served with Rader in the 75th. Their bond appeared unbroken.
“Just kind of reminiscing with [Melendez] and talking about the guys that we served with there,” Rader said. “I honestly attribute the 72nd Ranger Regiment to all of my leadership abilities. When you first get into regiment … they instill in you leadership from Day 1, even if you’re the small, youngest private, newest private in the platoon, to the oldest, most senior NCO (non-commissioned officer). Leadership, integrity and selfless service was something that was instilled in us, and I try to do that day to day at RCR.”
The focus shifts to the annual Coca-Cola 600 in two weeks, which comes after the Cup Series’ stop at Watkins Glen International on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) and follows the non-points-paying All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway. Dillon won his first career race in the crown-jewel marathon nine years ago, squeezing every drop out of his No. 3 Chevy to pass Jimmie Johnson with three laps to go.
But despite success at Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval, Dillon reaffirmed that the meaningfulness of the Coca-Cola 600 is what happens off the track and behind the scenes. Many of the soldiers he met on Thursday will attend this year’s Memorial Day Weekend race.
“Honoring those who have served our country and our veterans, the Gold Star Families that are on our cars, it’s always special to me because America is really represented there and the patriotism behind it, and then all of our military branches coming out and just giving them some love that they deserve,” Dillon said. “We always make connections, and then we go see each other [pre-race], and that’s a big part of Mission 600.”
