LEBANON, Tenn: The impressive sophomore NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series season for Daniel Dye continued Friday night at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway in the Rackley Roofing 200.
Having speed in his No. 43 NAPA Night Vision Chevrolet Silverado in practice, Dye continued the pace in qualifying by delivering a ninth-place qualifying effort.
From the drop of the green flag, Dye maintained the pace as the sun set by finishing fifth in Stage 1. With adjustments on his Chevrolet Silverado in between stages, Dye continued to march forward – landing fourth in Stage 2 with his sights set on earning his first career Truck Series victory.
Stage 3 went even better for Dye.
Continuing to climb the leaderboard, the Daytona Beach, Fla. native was able to move into second with his sights set on his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate Christian Eckes for the race.
While Dye maintained consistent lap times in the runner-up position trying to chase down a win in Music City, Eckes could not be challenged as he led all 150 laps of the race.
Dye trailed shortly behind, earning a career-best second, 2.028 seconds behind his teammate.
“It feels really good,” said Dye of his performance. “The No. 43 was really good all night. Blake (Bainbridge, crew chief) and I made good changes all night and worked together really well. We were close all night, it was just good to keep fighting it.”
Dye said earning his first career Truck Series top-five finish did a lot for his personal confidence – while even reflecting on the success of his early NASCAR career earlier Friday in the beaming sun.
“Man, what a crazy feeling,” added Dye. “We were talking about it earlier today just how cool it is that my name is on the jumbotron in qualifying at a NASCAR race. That pole at Atlanta was really cool, but this is a lot more for my confidence.
“The confidence is so important. Our Napa Night Vision Chevrolet was really fast. Super excited that this happened.”
An emotional Dye said he was on the verge of crying because of his achievement, but he held back the tears – wanting to save them for the right moment, his first career Truck Series victory.
“I am like close to crying, but I didn’t win so I gotta save the tears for a win.”
With his fifth top-10 finish in the books, Dye inches closer to the Playoff cutline with three races remaining in the regular season.
Dye now stands 11th in the Truck Series standings, just 14 points behind TRICON Garage’s Tanner Gray with Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park and Richmond (Va.) Raceway races left in the 16-race regular season.
Dye, 20, will run double duty at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway competing in the Truck Series race for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and Xfinity Series contest for Kaulig Racing.
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