Sponsor says Austin Dillon moving to Sprint Cup in 2014

Within the last week it has been made public that Austin Dillon will lose both his Nationwide Series ride and sponsor for the 2014 season.

On Monday, Richard Childress Racing announced Ty Dillon would drive the No. 3 Nationwide currently driven by older brother Austin. Two days later Austin's sponsor AdvoCare announced it would back Trevor Bayne and Roush Fenway Racing for the entire 2014 season.

So either Austin Dillon is considering a career change or the worst kept secret in NASCAR continues to leak out despite not yet being official?

The answer, obviously, is that Dillon will be moving full-time to the Sprint Cup Series next season in a car fielded by his grandfather, Richard Childress.

This seemed to be confirmed in the press release distributed by AdvoCare.

"AdvoCare served as the sponsor on the No. 3 car of Austin Dillon the past two seasons. With Dillon making the move to full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing in 2014, the organization began the process of diligently seeking out its best option moving forward," the company said.

It is expected that Dillon will replace Kevin Harvick, who is leaving for Stewart-Haas Racing, and form a three-car team with Paul Menard and Jeff Burton. And in all likelihood Dillon's ascension will see him return the No. 3 to NASCAR's top series, a number that hasn't been used in Cup since the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

"I'd love to run the No. 3," Dillon said in February. "... I enjoy running the number. It's very special to me and my family. Not only that, it's just a fun number to have running out there. All I can guarantee is 110 percent from my part and if we are running that number it's just going to give you a great opportunity to see it back out there and be up front."