Dye Makes Late Charge, Finishes Eighth In Atlanta

Daniel Dye (10) battles Harrison Burton Friday night at EchoPark Speedway. (Max Corcoran/Race Face Digital photo)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Daniel Dye didn’t let a slew of delays, a mid-race crash, and a late-night hankering for Wendy’s deter him from a valiant eighth-place run in the Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway.

A NASCAR Xfinity Series race that was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. local time wound up going green an hour later due to lightning. As the race continued on, a second lightning strike began an 80-minute delay in the middle of the first stage.

Once the race resumed and got into a better rhythm, it was mired by a slew of mid-race accidents, including a spin by Harrison Burton on lap 81, that collected Dye and knocked his rear bumper cover loose.

Dye’s Kaulig Racing pit crew did a masterful job repairing the cosmetic damage to the No. 10 Chevrolet and keeping him in contention, ultimately scoring his sixth top 10 of the season.

“Yeah, we got collected there running about fifth,” Dye said afterward. “That sucked because we were pretty fast and ran around fifth all day, I felt like. And then, once we got that damage, it was tough. I had to come all the way up from the back and drove all the way back up to about 10th. Just couldn’t get any help from anybody.

“[The Richard Childress Racing-aligned teams] try and be ‘One Welcome’, but that was unfortunately not the case today. We’ll re-rack and try it again, go to Chicago, and just keep trying to click off days like this.”

After the race, Dye’s comeback was overshadowed when RCR veteran Austin Hill ventured over to the No. 10 team’s pit stall.

Kaulig Racing has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing, whom Hill races for, and Hill was seemingly frustrated by how Dye raced him during the event.

Austin Hill (right) confronts Daniel Dye (center) on pit lane at EchoPark Speedway. (Max Corcoran/Race Face Digital photo)

That frustration came despite the fact Hill spent a majority of the race several laps down, after fuel pump issues derailed his hopes at a fourth straight EchoPark Speedway victory.

“Yeah, I just let him know how I felt,” Dye said, referencing a hand gesture he made toward Hill earlier in the race. “He was six laps down … in situations that it presents itself, I try and help him, you know, and help us as a group, and that was not reciprocated today; quite the opposite, in fact. I’m sure once he calms down from having a bad day, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, that probably makes sense.’

“I love [Hill’s] spotter, Derek Kneeland. I think Derek would have probably tried to work with us, too,” Dye added. “But yeah, he just had a fit about me letting him know how I felt.”

Dye sits 16th in the overall standings, 52 points back of Sheldon Creed at the cutoff. With nine races left until the playoffs, Dye isn’t mathematically in a must-win situation yet.

But if drivers below the cut – like Nick Sanchez, who triumphed on Friday night – continue to win, it could make the quest to advance into the postseason that much more challenging for Dye and the Kaulig team.

After the race, however, Dye was on a different quest – one that involved a late-night snack after the racing action ended in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

“I’m hoping I can make it to Wendy’s,” Dye said with a smile. “I know they close at one (a.m.), so we’re going to try and get there in time.”

The NASCAR Xfinity Series makes its third visit to the Chicago (Ill.) Street Course next weekend for the third running of The Loop 110.

Broadcast coverage of the Windy City event begins Saturday, July 5 at 4:30 p.m. ET on The CW, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.