Last week, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Ty Dillon spoke before an event in Grimes promoting this weekend’s U.S. Cellular 250 about the momentum he felt his team was building.
Dillon, who’s in his first full season on the Nationwide Series after racing trucks the last two years, had just recorded his first top-five finish of the season three days prior in Chicago on July 19.
“There’s been some times where we come up short, but we’ve got some momentum with our first top five and hopefully we can carry that on to the next couple races,” Dillon said on July 22.
Now, it seems Dillon’s momentum couldn’t be any stronger.
Fresh off his first win last weekend in Indianapolis, the 22-year-old enters Saturday’s race in Newton as one of the series’ hottest drivers. Dillon will be aiming for his third straight top-five finish after failing to do so in the first 17 races of the season.
“I think we’re very capable of doing that (finishing in the top five) every week,” Dillon said. “Hopefully we’ll get that first win and get that monkey off our back and really go run for this championship. I think we’re very much in it.”
Dillon wasted no time turning his hopes into his first career NNS checkered flag by winning the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday. The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet led 24 laps, more than he had in the year’s first 16 races combined.
“I’ve always gone to the race track knowing that I could win and knowing I have the best team there is,” Dillon told the Indianapolis Star. “I’ve always had the confidence in my guys and I’ve always had the confidence in myself that I could get it done. I’ve never lost confidence.”
While Dillon’s confidence may have never wavered, he acknowledged during his stop in Iowa last week there was an adjustment period, which stemmed from working with a new crew chief on a new series, he had to get through earlier this season to get to where he is now.
“I think that’s why we didn’t get the finishes that we wanted to to begin with,” Dillon said of that adjustment time. “We’re really starting to come together and learn what we need from each other. We’re starting to become a really strong team.
“I’m excited where our progress is now and we’ll have more opportunities to gain top fives and gain more points.”