Monster Mile Unkind To Ty Dillion and The GEICO Team

With only seven races remaining in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Ty Dillon and the GEICO Racing team entered Dover International Speedway poised to conquer the concrete monster. But the one-mile oval is known as the Monster Mile for a reason and the No. 13 team experienced the wrath of the tough track on Sunday afternoon. After battling a tight handling condition from the start of the 400-lap event and receiving a speeding penalty during the first green flag pit stop, Dillon found himself in a hole too big to escape with a lack of cautions. Despite the challenge, the Germain Racing team fought until the checkered flag to finish in the 29th position.
 
“Dover is a tough racetrack, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dillon, after the race. “Our GEICO Camaro ZL1 was just so much tighter in the race than it was in practice. The balance started to improve towards the end of Stage 2, but I just needed more overall grip. We battled through the day to finish the race. It wasn’t easy, but my team isn’t ever going to give up. We’ll move on to preparing for Talladega. We were incredibly fast there in the spring, so I’m looking forward to going back and hopefully ending the day in Victory Lane.”
 
Rolling from the 30th starting position after qualifying was cancelled due to rain on Friday afternoon, Dillon quickly reported a tight handling condition, as the GEICO Camaro ZL1 was “losing grip” as the opening run continued. After deploying a strategy call to stay out as long as possible, which moved the No. 13 machine into the top-15, Crew Chief Matt Borland called Dillon to pit road on lap 100 for a scheduled stop. Unfortunately, misfortune struck as Dillon was assessed a speeding penalty, forcing the Germain Racing entry to serve a pass-thru penalty under green.
 
Looking to rebound from the penalty, Dillon took the wavearound to regain a lap to the leader at the conclusion of stage one. While still battling an “impossibly tight” Chevrolet, the 26-year-old found himself on a lap of his own by lap 177. During the second half of the race, the handling of the GEICO Camaro ZL1 significantly improved, but with the leader setting a blistering pace and the shortage of cautions, Dillon was trapped in the 30th position. However, the team battled through until the conclusion to gain a spot and cross the finish line in 29th-place.
 
Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO team will now travel south to Alabama for the second time this season, as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Talladega Superspeedway. Opening practice will take place on Saturday, October 13th at 11:05AM ET, with qualifying scheduled for later that afternoon at 4:35PM ET.
 
The green flag will fly on Sunday, October 14th at 2:00PM ET. NBC will carry the live television broadcast, with the Motor Racing Network and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 carrying the live radio broadcast.
 
PMI PR