Austin Dillon welcomes baby, will race Sunday at Homestead

Austin Dillon celebrates after winning a NASCAR Xfinity series race. (Isaac Brekken/AP)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Austin Dillon announced Sunday morning that he and his wife Whitney are now parents.

The NASCAR driver said in a post on Instagram that Whitney Dillon gave birth to a boy named Ace. Austin Dillon is scheduled to start 16th in the No. 3 car in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

AJ Allmendinger had been on standby to drive if needed, but Dillon indicated in the post that he would get behind the wheel as planned.

"Hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was say goodbye to go race today," Dillon wrote in the Instagram post. "Hopefully we bring back a trophy for Ace on the first day we welcomed him into this world!"

Dillon is a two-time race winner in the Cup Series and was eighth at Homestead last season.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.