The No. 32 seed, Ty Dillon, advanced to the In-Season Challenge finale, eliminating John Hunter Nemechek in the process. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
DOVER, Del. — The inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge has seen many surprises, and more were made this weekend during the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway as Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon advanced to next weekend’s finale.
Gibbs, who came into the tournament as the No. 6 seed, defeated the No. 22 seed, Tyler Reddick. After battling inside the top 10 for the majority of the race, Gibbs was able to finish in fifth place after a chaotic ending to the race, advancing as Reddick slipped back to finish in 12th.
As for Dillon, who was the No. 32 and final seed in the tournament, the “Cinderella Story” run continued as he eliminated John Hunter Nemechek with his 20th-place finish. Dillon and Nemechek raced in the vicinity of one another for a large portion of the race, with the deciding factor being when Dillon passed Nemechek on the second-to-last restart right as the caution came out, earning the free pass and trapping the No. 42 team a lap down.
Ty Gibbs scored a fifth-place finish at Dover Motor Speedway and advanced to the In-Season Challenge finale by beating Tyler Reddick head-to-head. (Photo Credit: Declan Wayman | The Podium Finish)
“It was quite the battle all day,” Dillon said on racing against Nemechek. “All respect to John Hunter (Nemechek), him and I ran within a spot of each other all day, and it was a grind of a race for both of us. I just had a good restart there on the (No.) 47, took him three-wide, chaos ensued and was able to get that wave around, which kind of locked us into a good spot.”
Dillon has had a roller coaster career, but especially for the past handful of years when he has flip-flopped between the NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. This is why having a special moment like advancing to the finale for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge meant a lot to him personally, especially doing it with Kaulig Racing and all of his No. 10 team’s partners.
“All in all, just grateful to have this opportunity,” said Dillon. “This ride has been so fun. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve done in my career. It’s people in places that make things fun, and our sponsors have contributed to that, giving me the confidence in who I am to just be me in this situation.”
Ty Dillon during the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Dover Motor Speedway en route to a 20th-place finish and advancing to the In-Season Challenge finale. (Photo Credit: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)
For Gibbs, the main thing on his mind during the race was getting a win and locking his No. 54 team into the NASCAR Playoffs for a second consecutive season, but with a victory just out of reach, finishing ahead of Reddick became the most realistic goal to advance to the In-Season Challenge finale to go along with a top five finish.
“I was aware,” Gibbs said on knowing of his battle with Reddick for a berth in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge finale. “I feel like we had great restarts, and after that, I think we were just trying to advance our position as much as we could. For me, the biggest thing right now is to go for wins and try to do the best I can at the finish. So, I think that’s the most important part and this is just fun and comes into play at the end.”
The battle between Gibbs and Dillon for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge title and $1 million cash prize takes place next Sunday, July 27, in the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at 2:00 p.m. EST on TNT Sports, truTV, HBO Max, IMS Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
