Ty Dillon scores career-best finish at Talladega
Ty Dillon finished third in Sunday’s Yellawood 500 at Talladega, earning him the best finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Dillon started 28th and failed to earn stage points in stage one, but earned two points for finishing ninth in stage two. Dillon ran near the front throughout the day and then restarted fourth for the third and final overtime attempt. Dillon was shuffled farther back on the restart but worked his way back to third at the checkered flag.
Dillon’s third-place finish was also the best for Germain Racing as a Cup team, besting two fourth-place finishes at Daytona, one scored by Dillon in 2019 and one scored by Casey Mears in 2014.
Dillon has raced for Germain Racing since his rookie year in 2017. Dillon will be the team’s last driver, as they will be shutting down after 2020.
“We got six or seven more to go and hopefully we can top this as we come to the end,” Dillon said of his anticipations for the rest of 2020. “All in all, it’s been a great run, not just for the finishes, but for making memories and forming relationships.”
Dillon now has a 12.0 average finish in eight Talladega starts, which is the best average finish among all active drivers who have made at least five starts at the 2.66-mile track.
“I think patience, my wife preaches patience to me whenever we come here,” Dillon said. “I feel like I’ve got a sense when things are about to get bad and I focus on certain cars in the pack, attitudes, and feeling I get. I try to navigate myself to a safe spot and you find yourself finding falling back, but it works obviously.”
In eight Talladega starts, Dillon has never finished worse than 17th. Dillon has also finished on the lead lap in all eight starts, with no DNFs.
Dillon’s third-place finish was his first of the 2020 season, making him the 27th different driver to score a top 5 finish in this season. He currently sits 28th in the standings.
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
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