One of the bigger storylines from Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway was the strategy dictated by the different tire compounds.
For the first time in 2025, Goodyear, in collaboration with NASCAR, chose to bring two tire compounds to Phoenix; one softer ‘option’ tire, designed to be faster but wear quicker, and the usual ‘primary’ tire, which despite being slower in the short run would last longer.
There were several benefactors of tire-related strategy throughout the afternoon, including Ryan Preece and Austin Cindric, who both took the ‘option’ tire at unique times and drove into the race lead. Preece led 34 circuits, while Cindric only led six.
Ty Dillon and crew chief Andrew Dickeson chose to play the strategy differently, keeping the yellow-side-wall tires on the No. 10 Chevrolet until the first caution of the final stage, with 95 laps remaining, which also gave Dillon the free pass. By that point, all of the lead-lap vehicles had used their first set of ‘option’ tires and were putting another set of ‘primary’ tires on.
“We were a bit off to start the day. The first stage or so, we just kind of missed it to fire off, but then we were fighting for track position,” said Ty Dillon. “We had some things go our way with the way the cautions fell and the tire situation. Andrew [Dickeson] made a great call, a gutsy call, to put us in position to be a little bit different than everybody else and put us on the right tire.”
Suddenly, a vehicle that had been laying in the weeds sitting just outside the top 20 throughout the majority of the afternoon, looked to have the speed of a race-winning car, while also having the full allotment of ‘prime’ tires to get the job done.
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Dillon was able to quickly maneuver his way through the NASCAR Cup Series field, driving his No. 10 Hybrid Light Chevrolet from a spot just outside the top 20 up to fourth place before another caution flag was displayed nearly 50 laps later.
Things were shaping up pretty well for the Lewisville, North Carolina-native, as Kaulig Racing prepared to strap another set of red sidewall tires onto the No. 10 Chevrolet and let Dillon rip for the final 40 laps of the event and fight for a spot inside the top five.
Dillon’s chances at a top five, which would have been the third of his NASCAR Cup Series career, quickly faded away when NASCAR busted him for speeding in the pits, relegating him to the back of the pack. While the opportunity existed for the No. 10 to return to the pits and save their ‘prime’ tires for a late-race restart, Dickeson chose not to take that risk.
“Once we put the red option tires on, we had that tire advantage,” Dillon added. “I was able to drive up to the top five, and we were going to finish there if there was no caution as the car was solid, it wasn’t having any tire fall off.”
“So, it was a good day and then I sped on pit road. I’ve just got to clean up my mistakes, so we can turn a good day into a great day.”
The 33-year-old driver spent time battling for a position inside the top-15, but as subsequent cautions and restarts came at the end of the race – ones that would have allowed him to put on fresh ‘option’ tires should they have taken that route – more tires on fresh ‘primary’ tires behind them shuffled the No. 10 team back.
Dillon crossed the start-finish line in 16th, the second-best finish of his NASCAR Cup Series campaign to date. However, the mid-pack result left the driver of the No. 10 to climb two spots in the point standings, jumping up to 22nd, just 19 points below the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs cutline.
Kaulig Racing and Ty Dillon will head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway looking to redeem themselves for what could have been on the one-mile racetrack in Avondale, Arizona.
