With rain washing out practice and qualifying at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, the field for Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 was set by the rulebook and Ty Dillon and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Sea Best Chevrolet rolled off from the 21st position for the 400-lap event. Maintaining his position in the top 25, Dillon radioed the team during the lap 35 competition caution that the Sea Best Chevy was lacking overall downforce and grip. The team called Dillon to pit road for the first set of adjustments of the day. Improving the handling of the No. 10 Chevy, Dillon finished the first stage in 21st. During the second stage, Dillon continued to battle the handling of the No. 10 Chevy before finishing the stage in 25th, one lap down to the leaders. In the final stage, Dillon ran as low as 29th before the red flag was displayed on lap 383 for rain. Following a brief rain delay and multiple cautions in the closing laps, Dillon was able to receive the ‘lucky dog’ to return to the lead lap for a green-white-checker finish. Focused and determined, Dillon crossed the finish line in 20th and secured his position in the Championship Round of the In-Season Challenge. Dillon will now face Ty Gibbs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the best finisher winning $1 million.
“It feels good. You know, I have been the underdog for a long time now, just battling my way to try to get opportunity. Eventually you get comfortable in fighting from behind and people underestimating you. It’s hard to say that we lucked into it this far in, and I am proud of the way we have run. We haven’t been a dominating car, but we have been a pain to everyone around us. That is all we can do — put pressure on them and execute at the right time and that is what we have done.
I am so grateful to Matt Kaulig and everyone at Kaulig Racing — Chris Rice, Ty Norris, my sponsors Sea Best and Grizzly Nicotine Pouches. They are the ones that allow us to do this and allow us to have fun. I don’t take it for granted. I have been out of this sport and got good perspective and have so much gratitude just to get to race these cars. When things are coming together in a season like this, it’s not everything we want, it hasn’t been everything, but we are having fun. And when you can leave the racetrack smiling, you are already winning.”
AJ Allmendinger started in 17th place at Dover Motor Speedway after qualifying was canceled due to weather. When the competition caution was displayed on lap 35, Allmendinger was running in 16th, reporting that his Campers Inn RV Chevy was tight in traffic. He restarted in 16th, driving up to ninth place before the right front tire began to unravel with one lap remaining in the stage. Allmendinger came to pit road for tires and fuel before restarting the second stage. The team worked hard to save the right front tire, asking Allmendinger to be aggressive when he was able to make a move and then allow the tires to cool off for a lap. The No. 16 drove up to sixth as green pit stops began before coming to pit road for service. Shortly after the pit stop, Allmendinger reported the car freed up significantly and he felt there was an issue with the brakes. The team determined it was an issue in the right rear before going to garage to assess for repair. This issue ended the day for the No. 16, relegating Allmendinger to a 37th-place finish.
