Ty Dillon to Kick Off Sophomore Season at Daytona International Speedway

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Ty Dillon will begin his second season of full-time competition this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. He will pilot the No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 during the 60th running of the Daytona 500 when it gets underway on Sunday, February 18. This will be the first outing for the team in the new Camaro ZL1 body. Germain Racing previously tested the new body during a team test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before the start of the season. In Dillon’s last visit to the superspeedway, he was leading the race when the field restarted in overtime. His GEICO Military Chevrolet was shuffled to the back and ultimately finished 16th after leading seven laps.

 

In Dillon’s four previous Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) starts at Daytona, his 16th place finish in July 2017 has been his highest finish. Dillon has an average start of 23.8 and average finish of 24.8 at the 2.5-mile track. He has nine starts logged at Daytona in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) and has earned one top-five finish, two top-10 finishes and one pole award from the season opener of 2016. Dillon has led 36 laps of NXS competition. In his three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts, he has earned two top-10 finishes and pole award in 2015.
Dillon Weekend Chatter
 
The 2018 season has brought a lot of changes to the team with a new Chevrolet body style and a new crew chief. How have you seen these changes effect competition so far?
“So far, I think that all of the changes have sent our team in a positive direction. The Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 just looks cool right off the bat. It really translates well to what you’ll see on the dealership floor, which is great for Chevrolet and the fans. Making it even better, the on-track performance of our GEICO Camaro ZL1 has been great. We were able to test with it in Las Vegas, and we had practice time with it this past weekend in Daytona. It feels a lot better than what we had last year, and that will be a plus for all of the Team Chevy drivers as we head into 2018. We were also able to bring Matt Borland onboard as our crew chief this year. It’s been great for everyone at the shop as he’s brought in a new perspective that the team hasn’t had before. I think that we’re going to continue progressing as a group this season and put ourselves in a position at the end of the year to be where we want to be.
 
What are your expectations as we head into the Duels and the Daytona 500 this weekend?
“I have pretty high expectations for the Duels and the Daytona 500. I’ve gotten more and more comfortable drafting over the years, especially in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. I understand what it takes now, which has allowed me to be more relaxed when we come to superspeedways. I want to go out and win our Duel this year in our GEICO Camaro ZL1. I feel strongly that we have the car that it takes to make it to Victory Lane. We had a shot to win here back in July, and I feel like if we can put ourselves in that position again then we’ve got a great shot at the win.”

 

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