Top-Six finish for Ty Dillionn in Monster Energy Open at Charlotte

Every month of May, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series embarks on two weeks of non-stop action at Charlotte Motor Speedway – home turf for Ty Dillon and the Mooresville N.C.-based Germain Racing team. Before the longest race of the season takes place on Memorial Day weekend, the All-Star Race festivities allow teams to disregard the point standings and focus only on the trophy.

 

On Saturday evening, the No. 13 GEICO Military crew participated in the Monster Energy Open, a qualifying race to transfer into the main show. During this 60-lap shootout event, Dillon struggled with mechanical issues, but hustled his camouflaged machine to a sixth-place finish.

 

After advancing to the final round of qualifying, Dillon placed his GEICO Military  Chevrolet in the eighth starting position. With the event being divided into three short stages (20, 20, 10 laps respectively), the 25-year-old knew action would pick up fast and the laps would tick away quickly. The first and second stages would run caution-free and find Dillon fighting a mechanical issue, hindering his ability to make a hard charge towards the front of the field and relegating the GEICO machine to the 15th position.

 

As the green flag flew for the start of the third and final stage, Dillon posted his best lap time of the race and quickly gained six positions to take over ninth-place. When a caution was displayed on lap 48, Crew Chief Bootie Barker brought Dillon down pit road for four fresh tires and no adjustments as the GEICO Military Chevrolet was “handling well.” Over the final two laps, Dillon gained three more positions to cross the finish line in sixth-place. Despite not advancing to the main show, the Germain Racing team compiled valuable information to carry into next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600.

 

“We had a rough showdown in our GEICO Military Chevrolet,” said Dillon, after the race. “Brake issues early forced us into a really contrarian strategy, but our car fired off really well on that last restart. We learned some things to use next week and I’m looking forward to coming back here and running in the 600.”

 

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will return to Charlotte Motor Speedway once again next week as the premier series remembers those who have sacrificed it all serving the USA on Memorial Day weekend. Dillon and his No. 13 GEICO Military team will hit the track on Thursday, May 25for opening practice at 2:00 pm ET, with qualifying following at 7:15 pm ET.

 

The green flag will fly for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 28 at 6:00 pm ET. FOX will carry the live television broadcast, while the Performance Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 will also carry the live radio broadcast.

 

PMI PR