Ty Dillon Growing Through Summer Stretch With Kaulig

Dillon

Ty Dillon (Nigel Kinrade/NKP photo)

CHICAGOThe expectations for Ty Dillon in his return to full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing were mixed, at best, entering his return to the sport’s top level.

Some pundits had him being a primary backmarker each weekend, and others had him being a placeholder for other potential prospects in the Chevrolet pipeline.

However, 19 weeks through his first full Cup Series season since 2023, Dillon has effectively put his name into the mix for solid results more often than not.

On the streets of Chicago Sunday, Dillon finished 20th, capturing his second finish inside the top 20 in consecutive weeks. After starting the race from the rear of the field, Dillon also posted his best finish at the street course in two starts.

But, to top it all off, he also moved on in NASCAR’s inaugural $1 million ‘in-season tournament’, landing as one of the eight eligible drivers remaining after two races from an initial pool of 32.

It makes Dillon’s recent performance a big deal on multiple fronts.

“We survived and advanced. This No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team is just a tough team, we never quit. We don’t even know how to. I’m just so proud,” said Dillon. “This race was tough on us. I felt like halfway through the race, we were rolling pretty good, and we could have had a chance at a top 15. I clipped the wall twice, knocked the toe link out, and kind of bent the ball joint pretty badly.

“I was just kind of hanging on and hoping we could get everything we could there at the end,” he added. “We’re just going to keep working hard, put pressure on who we’re facing next in the in-season tournament, and see if we can keep it rolling.”

This season, Dillon has targeted making the most out of the opportunities given to him. That is a microcosm of what his career has been, which includes his fight to save his racing dreams in recent years.

Bouncing around rides, taking part-time deals across all three national series, and working through one full-time – but maligned – Craftsman Truck Series season, has had Dillon scrapping to survive since 2021.

That has all made him stronger, though, both as a racer and as a person. Taking a step back to then take a few forward has paid off for Dillon, as it has for other names beginning to blossom on the Cup side, such as John Hunter Nemechek for Legacy Motor Club.

Ty Dillon

Ty Dillon in action Sunday afternoon at the Chicago Street Course. (Peter Casey/Nigel Kinrade Photgraphy)

“We’re pretty confident. We've been running strong in a lot of these races and just haven’t been able to finish them out. And part of getting the recognition is finishing out the race strong,” Dillon noted. “It doesn’t really always matter if you’re running up front at most the race. Most people are just paying attention to the end result.”

Although he just has one top 10 this season at EchoPark Speedway two weeks ago, Dillon has found stride in contending inside the top 20. He has eight finishes of 20th or better this season for Kaulig Racing. In terms of his average finish, Dillon is on pace for the best in his career since 2020.

Despite being outside the top 30 in points, Dillon has a better average finish than Brad Keselowski, as well as Shane van Gisbergen despite his two wins. His finishing position stacks up with Daniel Suarez, Carson Hocevar, and Josh Berry, who won in March.

While the 33-year-old’s results aren’t exactly wins and top fives, he’s certainly been solid running for Kaulig under the Richard Childress Racing technical alliance.

Dillon also knew he could be a force within the in-season bracket, and he has backed that up by eliminating Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski the first two rounds. He’ll go up against Alex Bowman this weekend at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway and stated the tournament has been impactful for his team.

“It’s been big for our Kaulig Racing group and our sponsors to have that moment. Just carrying some good momentum, I enjoy road course racing. I enjoy this unique style of it. And I think it's another opportunity for our team to compete,” Dillon noted.

While the Welcome, N.C., native has improved this season, he feels like he could have done more in the prior races, but also aims to continue building.

“It's been frustrating in a sense, but the main ingredient to future success is having the speed and the ability to run up front. The execution and finishing part of these races is something we have to grow in,” Dillon said. “We were running seventh in Talladega and ran out of gas coming to the white flag. We ran into twice and our finish was killed at Bristol and if we didn’t get run into at Mexico City we would have finished somewhere in the top-12, I believe, if that thing runs out without us getting a flat tire.

“I can go back to so many races where just silly things happened, and we made mistakes. Maybe it’s just being a young team all the way through the driver, crew chief, and pit crew where we’ve just made mistakes that have not finished the races out,” he said. “At Phoenix earlier in the year we were running really strong. I sped on pit road, probably would have had a fifth- or sixth-place finish and ended up 14th. Just there are opportunities that we have to grow in, and I think we’re getting there.”

Dillon hasn’t had a top 20 in five career Cup Series starts at Sonoma, with his last coming in 2023. But, he looks to change that this weekend and further extend his top 20 streak.

“I think Atlanta and Chicago were good testaments to progress as a team,” he said. “It's been so fun working with this Kaulig group, and we're only going to get better.”

Coverage of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma begins Sunday, July 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET, live on TNT Sports, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

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About Justin Glenn

Justin Glenn is an aspiring NASCAR beat writer from Washington, D.C., currently completing his senior year at Jackson Reed High School. In addition to his work with Race Face Digital, Glenn is a routine sportswriter for his school newspaper and has been a motorsports fan for nearly a decade.