Petty GMS Event Preview: Road America

Ty Dillon, No. 42 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

– Dillon at Road America: Ty Dillon has competed in one NASCAR Cup Series event at Road America, posting a 26th-place result while driving a limited schedule for Gaunt Brothers Racing one season ago. The 30-year-old has also participated in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races (2014-2016), completing 100% of the laps and earning two top-12 finishes.

– Allegiant – Together We Fly™: Allegiant will serve as primary partner on Dillon’s Chevrolet Camaro for Sunday’s race at Road America. From America’s favorite small cities to world-class destinations, Allegiant makes leisure travel affordable and convenient. With low-low fares, nonstop, all-jet service and premier travel partners, Allegiant provides a complete travel experience with great value and without all the hassle.

– Double Duty: To gain additional seat time for the Cup Series race, Dillon will drive the No. 6 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at the Elkhart Lake road course. This will mark Dillon’s first Xfinity Series start of 2022.

– Meet Dillon: On Sunday, July 3 at 11:15 a.m. local time, Dillon will be at the Chevrolet display in the Road America Fan Zone. Stop by to meet the No. 42 driver, ask questions, and receive an autograph.

– About Allegiant: Las Vegas-based Allegiant (NASDAQ: ALGT) is an integrated travel company with an airline at its heart, focused on connecting customers with the people, places and experiences that matter most. Since 1999, Allegiant Air has linked travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class vacation destinations with all-nonstop flights and industry-low average fares. Today, Allegiant’s fleet serves communities across the nation, with base airfares less than half the cost of the average domestic roundtrip ticket. For more information, visit us at Allegiant.com.

– From the Drivers Seat: What are your thoughts heading into Road America? Will pulling double duty help you on the Cup side?

“At road courses, and especially this track that is over four miles, the more laps you can get to put yourself in a rhythm and get to know the track surface as much as possible is only going to help. And you give yourself the chance to run another race and have a shot at a win. I’m looking forward to the entire weekend. There is something about road course racing and NASCAR that makes me really happy and is a lot of fun for me personally.”

What makes Road America a challenge? You ran the Cup Series race last season, so this will be your second year in a row at the track.

“Last year, I was able to run the race with Gaunt Brothers Racing and we didn’t even have a crew chief for that race. It was just me and the car chief and we really just put enough together to give ourselves an opportunity. It wasn’t a bad finish when you look at some of the cars that we beat. Road America is a challenge. It’s a narrow track with a lot of different types of corners. There are three or four heavy braking corners, and then you have three or four flowy corners where you need to be able to use your momentum and be on the right line. It’s very important to know where to place your car in the middle of these corners more than it is to being aggressive to getting out of the corners. It’s a technique style track even though it’s so big, which typically lends itself to being very fast.”

Erik Jones, No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

– Jones at Road America: Teams will head to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin this weekend for the Kwik Trip 250 on Sunday, July 3, where Erik Jones will make his second-career Cup Series start at the 4.048-mile road course. Last season for the Cup Series debut at Road America, Jones scored a 19th-place finish. In his lone Xfinity Series race at the track, Jones has a 21st-place finish with five laps led.

– Aim High: The U.S. Air Force will serve as the primary partner for Jones and the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro team for Sunday’s race at Road America. The brand-new dark green paint scheme, designed by Tech. Sgt. Andrew Brockman, was inspired by the famous B-29 Superfortress with glass up front and riveted panel design.

– Welcome General Charles Q. Brown, Jr.: This weekend the No. 43 team and Petty GMS will host Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Air Force, for Sunday’s race at Road America. As Chief, Gen. Brown serves as the senior uniformed Air Force officer responsible for the organization, training and equipping of 689,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian forces serving in the United States and overseas. As member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the general and other service chiefs function as military advisors to the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council and the President. Gen. Brown was first commissioned in 1984 and has served a variety of positions and tours throughout his career.

In addition to attending Sunday’s race at Road America, Gen. Brown will take a lap around the track with Jones and take part in a DEP Enlistment Ceremony at the Pre-Race Stage prior to the start of Sunday’s event.

– USAF Sighting: Jones will be at the U.S. Air Force display on Sunday, July 2, 11:20 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. CT. Stop by to get an autograph and meet Jones before the start of Sunday’s race.

– Points Racing: With nine races left before the 2022 Cup Series playoffs start, Jones remains 16th in the point standings with one top-five, five top-10 and nine top-15 finishes.

– About Air Force Recruiting Service: The mission of Air Force Recruiting Service is to inspire, engage and recruit the next generation of Airmen and Space professionals. We are looking for America’s best and brightest to fill approximately 30,000 opportunities in more than 200 Air Force specialties, as well as more than 300 space professionals in approximately 27 specific career fields in fiscal 2021. Additionally, our total force partners, the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard are collectively hiring more than 19,000 part-time Airmen. Our military recruits to retain, providing tough, highly technical training that gives our future servicemembers the right skills to sustain the combat capability of America’s Air Force and protect our nation’s interests in space. For more information about Air Force and U.S. Space Force benefits and opportunities, go to www.airforce.com.

– From the Driver’s Seat: Talk about Road America and the challenges of the track.

“Road America is a tough track. The ‘kinks’ are the most high speed, on edge part of the race track that we go through, so you can gain and lose a lot of time there which makes it tougher than most. It’s a place where you feel like you are in a good place and then all of sudden you are sliding through the grass. I’ve done it before, I think we all have, but I don’t want to do it again.”