Ty Dillon entered the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season with hope, and optimism. And his first season in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro may very well turn out to be good, but things got off to a rough start in Sunday’s 65th-annual Daytona 500.
Dillon, 30, only made it 26 laps into the scheduled 200-lap distance of the race as the engine in his race car went south.
The driver slowed on track as smoke billowed from the exhaust of his No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro. Dillon would bring the machine to pit road, to the attention of his pit crew. But after just a few moments of looking at it, Dillon’s crew pushed the car behind the wall.
Dillon is officially out of the race and will finish 40th, pending any disqualifications in the race.
TobyChristie.com attempted to obtain comment from Dillon on what caused the engine failure, but Dillon declined an interview after his early exit from the race.
The North Carolina native suffered through a painful season with Petty GMS in 2022, a team that has since been rebranded to LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Mid-way through last season, the team announced that they had parted ways with Dillon for the 2023 season.
Dillon then announced his move to Spire Motorsports.
Over the course of Dillon’s 203 NASCAR Cup Series starts, he has recorded two top-five finishes and seven top-10s. Unfortunately, Dillon will not add to that total this weekend.
