Ty Dillon faces Ty Gibbs in the championship for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
INDIANAPOLIS — Two laps at Texas could be worth $1 million Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Ty Dillon and Kaulig Racing.
In an In-Season Challenge finale no one could have foreseen, Dillon —the last seed in the 32-driver event — will race Ty Gibbs. Whoever finishes the best among those two will win the big paycheck.
Dillon looks back to his overtime restart at Texas with setting him up for this magical run.
Dillon went from 18th to 12th in the final two laps at Texas in May for what was then his best finish of the season. He passed Gibbs, Zane Smith, Chris Buescher, Justin Haley and Riley Herbst before moving ahead of William Byron just before the finish line.
“The thing about me beating William to the line there, it’s probably insignificant at the end of the day, it’s one point different, that’s it … but for me it was a check on my list,” Dillon told NBC Sports in May. “OK, I feel confident in making that move for when it is for something super important.”
That came two weeks ago at Sonoma and then last week at Dover as Dillon found ways to advance in the In-Season Challenge.
Dillon was matched against Alex Bowman at Sonoma in the third round. On the final lap, Bowman was ahead of Dillon entering the final corner.
For Dillon, that brought to mind his Texas finish.
“That Texas restart where we passed a lot of cars … built confidence,” Dillon said this week in response to a question from NBC Sports. “It builds confidence that the next time you get in that situation, you feel like you can get it done again.
“Sonoma was the first time where backs against the wall, last restart, couple of laps to go, here’s one of those moments. And was able to capitalize on that.”
Dillon advanced when he moved Bowman up the track to get by.
Dillon then faced John Hunter Nemechek in last weekend’s semifinals at Dover. They raced each other late to be in the free pass position if there was a late caution.
“Last week, it looked even more grim from my position of I don’t know if we’re going to make it around here, but if I can just get one more restart, that’s the only moment I need,” Dillon said this week.
On a restart eight laps from the scheduled distance, Dillon went to the bottom lane to go three-wide with Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Turn 1. Dillon cleared Stenhouse and then completed the move by Nemechek in Turn 3.
A caution soon came out, keeping Dillon ahead of Nemechek. Dillon held off Nemechek on the next restart before the caution came back out, going him the free pass over Nemechek. Dillon would finish as the last car on the lead lap. Nemechek would finish one spot behind, the first car a lap down.
“The moments have been happening and I have been able to step through, so the confidence is there,” Dillon said. “All I can hope is that the moment comes up again and I feel, ultimately, supremely confident that myself and our team will walk through that door and be able to capitalize.
“So, I’m not really thinking about the magnitude of the situation (at Indy) … I think we’ve already won as a team and as a driver making it this far.”
Category: General Sports
