Dillon tames Monster Mile with 18th place finish

 

With no practice sessions on the schedule for the balance of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, racing at a venue coined the ‘Monster Mile’ can be a daunting proposition. There was nothing scary about it for Germain Racing and Ty Dillon, who exited the weekend with another top-20 finish.
 
Dillon is no stranger to success at Dover, a track where he had his No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE in the lead for 27-laps in June 2017. Saturday was Dillon’s 150th NASCAR Cup Series start and he aimed to celebrate the occasion with a strong finish.
 
Doubleheader weekends at any facility are challenging, but at the often-brutal Dover International Speedway, it’s increasingly so. The high-banked one-mile track often eats up racecars and spits them out, leaving teams frustrated. Dillon and the GEICO Camaro started from the 25th position when the green flag kicked off a full weekend of racing.
 
Dillon was strong throughout the 311-lap event and became faster as the race wore on. He battled intermittent handling issues, but the GEICO pit crew made proper adjustments as the race progressed, which consistently left him in a strong position. The GEICO team managed to win the battle against Miles the Monster on Saturday. When the checkered flag was displayed, Dillon and his GEICO Camaro crossed the finish line in the 18th position and posted their third top-20 in as many weeks.
 
Sunday’s race featured fender damage to Dillon’s No. 13 entry, along with an elusive caution flag late in the race that relegated the driver to a 29th place finish.
 
“Dover is a very physically demanding track. I’ve been working really hard on my physical conditioning this season, and it was put to the test this weekend,” Dillon said after the race. “The cars were way harder to drive this year, which I personally think is fun as a driver because you can move around and make a difference if your car is handling well. Our GEICO team came out of the gate strong on Saturday and did a great job preparing our Camaro ZL1 1LE. We made the handling better as the race progressed and were able to bring home another top-20 finish. While Sunday didn’t turn out how we wanted, our team is looking forward to Daytona.”
 
Germain Racing will now return to the World Center of Racing for the second time in three weeks, but this time to take on the fabled 2.5-mile high-banked oval.
 
Ty Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE will hit the track at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 29th, for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The race will be televised live on NBC beginning at 7:30 PM (ET). The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast, along with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
 
PMI PR