Making his ninth Daytona 500 start, Ty Dillon started Sunday’s race from the seventh position, a career-best starting position in the Great American Race. With a fast Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet, the team made the decision to play it safe early in the race, keep the car clean and make a run to the front in the final stage. With their strategy in full motion and the laps winding down, the team made a pit stop under the lap 161 caution and unfortunately returned to the track with a loose wheel. As the race went back green, Dillon was forced to pit road for an unscheduled pit stop and with the stop, lost the draft and the lead pack. Falling two laps down, the team stayed focused and devised a plan to finish the race strong. With cautions falling their way, Dillon was able to get the ‘free pass’ on two occasions to return to the lead lap for the lap 199 restart and NASCAR’s first attempt at overtime. Focused on gaining positions and moving forward, Dillon was able to make passes and avoid a last lap wreck to cross the finish line in the 14th position.
“Our Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevy was really strong, and our car was very fast. We were able to lead laps early in the race and the car wanted to be up front most of the time. In the middle of the race, you kind of get stuck in the pack, so we tried to play it smart. Our first goal of the day after having a successful Duel and finishing third, getting some points there, was to finish the race. We played it smart through the first couple of stages and we had planned to race pretty hard in the final stage, we had a loose wheel that put us a couple of laps down. We fought really hard and got those laps back, stayed out of the crashes and were able to get a good finish. To leave the Daytona 500 with a top 15 is a conundrum because you want to do well, you can see the pie in the sky is right in front of you, it’s the biggest race of our year. To leave with a top 15, leading laps, scoring points in the Duel, starting our year off on the right foot – that was a major goal of ours. I am very proud of our team and our resilience of fighting through the day.”
– Ty Dillon
No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1
Start: 13th
Stage 1 End: 41st
Stage 2 End: 41st
Finish: 41st
Allmendinger maintained position in the top-12 until the caution for weather came on lap nine and the red flag was displayed. When the race resumed, Allmendinger drove up to fifth on the bottom lane, behind teammate, Ty Dillon, until he had a mechanical issue on lap 41. The team went to the garage to assess and determined the engine expired on the No. 16 Celsius Chevy, ultimately ending the day.
