TY DILLON WINS JEFF FOXWORTHY’S GRIT CHIPS 200

TY DILLON WINS JEFF FOXWORTHY’S GRIT CHIPS 200

FRIDAY AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

 

HAMPTON, Ga. (Aug. 31, 2012) – Rookie Ty Dillon made anything but a rookie move to pass veteran Atlanta Motor Speedway ace Kyle Busch for his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win Friday in the Jeff Foxworthy’s Grit Chips 200.

“I’m so happy and so excited, and I finally did it, I won a NASCAR race,” said Dillon, grandson of legendary NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, son of former NASCAR driver Mike Dillon, and brother of current NASCAR Nationwide Series contender Austin Dillon.  “My whole life has revolved around NASCAR and RCR and our team. My whole dream was just to win a race in NASCAR and eventually maybe one day become a champion. I accomplished one of my goals tonight; it just feels so great.”

Dillon came close last week, running in the top five at Bristol before running out of fuel with three laps remaining. He was afraid tonight was going to be a repeat performance, as he would have run out of fuel without the benefit of that last caution. But the caution did come out at lap 106 of 130 for debris on the track, and Dillon stopped for fuel.

He came out of the pits first, with Busch second, a lead that didn’t last a single lap after the restart. But Dillon kept searching for a way to get past the wily veteran, then dove low with six laps to go, relegating Busch to the high line. 

“I couldn’t be more prouder than what he accomplished tonight,” Childress said. “To watch him race, and watch how he kept searching for the groove and moving around … he looked like he was a pro out there.”

Even racing against a pro. Busch has won four events in his eight starts, never finishing outside the top 10. But the veteran had nothing for the rookie who forced him high, where his truck was helpless, tagging the wall as Dillon streaked past him underneath.

“They were just a better truck; they had a lot better handle on the bottom of the race track than we did, especially throughout the longer runs,” Busch said. “Then when it’s time to race, a guy catches you and you’ve got to go up to the top, and you try to push and you get sideways and get into the fence. There’s no room to catch it up there. It was all I could do to try to push as hard as I could; I didn’t have anything to hold onto.”

Busch has finished second, third and second for the last three years consecutively, and while that sounds like a fantastic record for most drivers, it left Busch extremely frustrated Friday in Atlanta.

“We’ve run the same thing for three years and got beat by same truck for three years,” Busch said. “It gets a little old. It’s like Groundhog Day today.”

It might have felt that way to Busch, but not for proud papa Mike Dillon.

“You want to get them out there and give them everything it takes to do it,” Dillon said. “And then when they accomplish it, it’s hard to put into words. It’s like a kid getting up there to hit a ball on their first time at bat, you just want them to make contact … and he hit it out of the park tonight.”

Racing action continues with Saturday’s NRA American Warrior 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race and Sunday’s AdvoCare 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Seats are still available by calling the Atlanta Motor Speedway ticket office at 877-9-AMS-TIX (877-926-7849), 770-946-4211 or by visiting www.atlantamotorspeedway.com.