The $1 million prize is now in clear sight for Ty Dillon.
After finishing just inside the top-20 in Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway, the Lewisville, North Carolina-native defeated LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s John Hunter Nemechek by one spot to get into the final round of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge.
It was a close-quarters battle throughout the entire afternoon at the one-mile concrete oval, with some instances of Dillon and Nemechek racing side-by-side for position on the racetrack, and at one point even making contact just before getting lapped.
When it came down to crunch time, though, and both Dillon and Nemechek were battling to receive the free pass (awarded to the first driver off the lead lap at every caution), the Kaulig Racing driver was able to take advantage of a late restart to blast ahead of the driver of the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE.
Dillon would finish as the last car on the lead-lap, in 20th, while Nemechek had to settle for a 21st-place result, as the first car off the lead-lap. Thus, the driver of the No. 10 Sea Best Chevrolet took a spot in the final round of the bracket at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As it turns out, the glass slipper continues to fit for another week…
Dillon entered the in-season tournament as the 32nd and final seed, meaning that when things got started at EchoPark Speedway, he was paired up against the top seed, now-58-time NASCAR Cup Series race-winner Denny Hamlin.
The grandson of Richard Childress knocked Hamlin out at the halfway point of the event, after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver got collected in a massive wreck. Moving onto Chicago, Dillon was paired against Brad Keselowski, whose afternoon only lasted two laps before getting caught up in a wreck.
Things got even more difficult, though, as the series went out west to Sonoma Raceway. While Dillon wasn’t in contention throughout the day, a late-race shuffle of the running order had the No. 10 Chevrolet in striking distance, and on the final lap of the race, his opponent, Alex Bowman, got the chrome horn.
Other than the eighth-place result at EchoPark Speedway, the finishes haven’t been flashy in the slightest, with a 20th at Chicago, 17th at Sonoma, and another 20th this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, but it’s been enough to slide him through.
“It feels good. I have been the underdog for a long time now, just battling my way to try to get opportunities. Eventually, you get comfortable in fighting from behind and people underestimating you,” Dillon said. “It’s hard to say that we lucked into it this far in, and I am proud of the way we have run. We haven’t been a dominating car, but we have been a pain to everyone around us. That is all we can do – put pressure on them and execute at the right time, and that is what we have done.”
Throughout the event, where Dillon was outside the top-20 and off the lead-lap for much of the 400 laps, he says he had to remain calm and have faith that a door would open in order to get the No. 10 in front of the No. 42 when the checkered flag was displayed.
It was easy to have faith for Dillon, who in the days leading up to Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 had tons of support from fans, friends, and family.
“I didn’t know how it was going to happen, I just kept believing that good things were going to happen, believing in the good,” Dillon said. “Like I said earlier, I had a lot of people text me they were praying for me, and I just knew that something good was going to happen. God had just opened up doors in this whole thing to navigate us to where we are, and I’ve been able to walk through them with confidence because this team gives it to me every day and every week.”
It may not be a career-best, and it may not even necessarily be the finishes that Kaulig Racing was hoping for, but as it turns out, heading into next weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there are more eyes on the 33-year-old than there ever have been before in his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Dillon (who defeated John Hunter Nemechek on Sunday) will be facing off against Ty Gibbs in the final round of the in-season tournament, after the Joe Gibbs Racing driver defeated Tyler Reddick at Dover. The final race will take place next weekend at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
