DOVER, Del – Ty Dillon’s best showing in his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career ended with a last lap disaster and a mangled race car in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
Dillon took advantage of a fast race car, strategy and quick pit stop to find himself in the lead on Lap 334 but found himself struggling late in the race to hold off Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr.
All bets were off though when David Ragan crashed in Turn 2 with two laps to go in regulation, setting up for NASCAR overtime.
On the restart, Dillon who was fourth got loose on the backstretch collided with Ryan Newman and triggered a massive 10 car crash that ultimately forced the race to end under caution with Jimmie Johnson winning for his 11th time at the Monster Mile.
A.J. Allmendinger, Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, brother Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Newman and Cole Whitt.
While running in the top-10 for much of the race’s final quarter, Dillon ended up with a 14th place finish, his second-best finish in 31 Cup races. He also led a career-high 27 laps.
“First of all, I’m really proud of our Germain Racing team,” said Dillon.
“I can’t thank Bob Germain enough for giving me the opportunity to come out here and race with these guys, it’s a lifelong dream. To lead laps like that meant a lot to me. We had to restart fourth on old tires and I just think the air off the No. 31 got me a little loose and they left a bunch of sand there off Turn 2 and as soon as I got loose and hit that sand it was all over.
“I feel bad for all the cars that got torn up. But, really, I don’t really know what the No. 31 or myself could have done any different to stay out of that crash. Proud of our effort today. We proved to ourselves as a team that we can run up front with the big boys and just proud of our effort by our GEICO Chevy.”
Sunday was a solid leap for Dillon and the No. 13 single-car outfit. Dillon’s time at the front, 27 in all was the most laps led in the team’s history. With only one prior top-10 result in the team’s history outside of restrictor plate racing, Dillon is optimistic about the message they delivered not only within their inner circle, but the Cup Series garage.
Pleasant, thankful and appreciative out of the car moments after the wreck, he uttered the same inside his butchered race car moments after the crash.
“Sorry guys,” he radioed after the crash. “We proved that we can do this. Quitting is not an option.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
