Austin Dyne, Bryan Herta Rallysport supercar driver, may sometimes be referred to as the Dark Horse among other supercar drivers in Red Bull Global Rallycross. He has the talent to race clean, keep his driving tidy and has consistent results. Yet he has been unable to get past a hurdle that seems to be preventing him from reaching the top of the podium. His profile may not be as well known as some of his fellow competitor such as Block, Foust or Deegan. But, after jumping behind the wheel of a supercar in 2014, Dyne has shown enough success out on the track to prove that he has what it takes to compete among top Red Bull Global Rallycross drivers.
At only 23 years of age, Austin has a background in racing that rivals many of his current older fellow competitors. Austin began racing go-karts back in 2007, winning his first race in his debut season. He then advanced to Formula cars in 2010 in the Skip Barber Eastern Championship. A year later, at the age of 19, he began racing stockcars. “I moved to stock cars and ran late models at Irwindale for a year in two different classes,” said Dyne. “I ran [NASCAR] K&M West series and then the East series the following year.” During his time in K&M series, Austin accumulated two top-five and eight top-ten finishes earning him Rookie of the Year title. During that 2013 season, while racing in the East series, Austin also raced in the newly formed GRC Lites series. In 2014, he made the decision race a supercar in the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship. “In 2014, I put all my focus into supercars and it was a good learning year,” said Dyne. “This year I’m with Bryan Herta Rallysport. New cars and new team. It’s gone pretty well.”
Austin has known Bryan Herta and some of the current team members for years. “I’ve known Bryan [Herta] for a long time,” said Dyne. “When I was racing karts, Bryan’s son Colton was racing in a lower series but we were always at the track together. I also worked at his shop when I raced in Skip Barber. I moved to Indianapolis and would travel with them and work on the mini-lights car. On the off-weekends I was racing Skip Barber. So some of the guys are still here and I’ve known them for a long time.”
The process of developing a new race team takes time and Bryan Herta Rallysporthas used each event this season to fine tune, tweak, adjust and calibrate its cars for not only Dyne but also for his teammate, Patrik Sandell. In 2014, Dyne and Scott Speed were the only two drivers to make it to each of the first eight main events of the season. So far this season, Dyne has had two heat wins, one podium, and on day two of the Barbados doubleheader he qualified first, earning his first Red Bull GRC pole position.
Many GRC fans are aware that Austin is the son of Red Bull GRC CEO, Colin Dyne. Over the past couple of years, Austin has had to deal with a little bit of criticism from the public about perceived special treatment when it came to penalty calls. Rallycross360 asked him how he feels about some of that criticism. “I don’t really care,” said Dyne. ” I’ve been racing longer than half the people here and I’m only 23. I’ve had success in different forms of motorsports before my dad was even involved in motorsports. If it wasn’t for my dad, none of us would have a job because he came in and saved the series. I’m happy and proud of my dad and what he has been able to do. I’m on my own program. You’ll see him here and there at the events, but I do my thing and he does his own thing.”
Austin has spent the past couple of years learning the sport of rallycross and honing his skills behind the wheel a supercar. “It’s been going really well,” said Dyne. “There are some teams that do rally and they have a high pedigree. But, I think we have a little different way of doing things. There are things that we had to learn as a team and we have had to go through. We have been super consistent and have been learning so fast. Every weekend we get stronger and stronger.”
You can follow Austin on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and AustinDyne.com
Follow Austins Red Bull Global Rallycross stats:http://www.redbullglobalrallycross.com/drivers-teams/
Photo Credit: Red Bull Global Rallycross