Iowa Weekend Preview
June 16, 2016
Staff Report
NASCAR Wire Service
Dillon attempts to score a win for dad on Father's Day
Ty Dillon possesses quite the racing lineage.
The
No. 3 Chevrolet driver's grandfather, Richard Childress, earned
entrance into the 2017 NASCAR Hall of Fame induction class last month
and has captured six NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series owner championships in his career.
Dillon's
father, Mike Dillon, made 158 NASCAR national series starts and serves
in a vital role at Richard Childress Racing as its vice president of
competition.
Ty
would like to do nothing more than win his first race of the season for
Mike on Father's Day in Sunday's American Ethanol E15 250 presented by
Enogen at Iowa Speedway (1:30
p.m. ET on FS1).
“My
dad is one of my biggest supporters," Dillon said. "Without him, I
probably wouldn’t be racing right now. He’s taught me so much from the
time I decided to go racing when
I was 13 years old. He had a good racing career and understands some of
the things that I go through on a weekly basis – he’s extremely smart
when it comes to how to race and what to look for when driving the car.
He’s a big part of our family business and
I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
"This weekend is very special to me – racing and family are intertwined in my life. I hope I can score him a win on Sunday.”
Dillon
has displayed good form lately with five top 10s – including three top
fives – in his last seven races. He ranks fourth on the NASCAR XFINITY
Series Chase Grid where he
sits a hefty 140 points above 13th-place Ross Chastain on the cutoff
line. He can lock himself into the Chase with a win.
In
four career starts at Iowa Speedway, Dillon claims two top-five and
three top-10 finishes with a high result of fourth last August.
“This
weekend is a great opportunity to lock ourselves in the Chase and
improve our positioning in the driver point standings. We realize that
the field is mostly XFINITY Series
regulars and that Iowa is a track that I’ve had experience racing, and
racing pretty well. We’re definitely at an advantage this weekend and
feel that we should run well.
Adaptable Byron finally faces familiar track
New track.
No problem.
William
Byron has yet to visit an oval twice in his brief, eight-race NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series career. Although inexperienced, the quick
study has piloted his Toyota
Tundra to two wins this season, including his latest visit to Victory
Lane at Texas Motor Speedway last Friday.
On
Saturday, Byron gets to bullet around some familiar scenery in the
Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1) – a track where
he won on his way to the NASCAR
K&N Pro Series East championship last season.
"I
think our strong suit this year has been going to different tracks and
being able to adapt quickly, so going to a track I've been to before is
going to help us get up to speed
a lot faster and be able to work on the truck even more," Byron said.
"I think it's going to help us overall and help us be a little better
for the beginning of the race. In the races we've won I feel like our
truck was the best at the end of the race, so
hopefully this weekend we can start the race as well as we finish."
The
NASCAR Next alum has exceeded his own expectations in his first full
truck series season, registering three top fives and four top 10s in
addition to his two wins. Byron
ranks third in the points standings and leads the Sunoco Rookie of the
Year standings. He has also already captured a berth in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series Chase playoffs by virtue of his victories.
"I
was expecting Iowa to be the first place I might get a win just because
it is a short track and a place I have been to before," Byron said. "To
get two wins on two 1.5-mile
tracks where I didn't have any experience at all was a surprise. That
was the biggest learning curve so far this season, so it's definitely
exciting to have those finishes and I'm ready to try and get more wins
this year."
NASCAR Race Weekend Guide
NASCAR XFINITY Series
Race:
American Ethanol E15 250 presented by Enogen
Place: Iowa Speedway
Date and Time: Sunday, June 19 at 1:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 218.75 miles (250 laps)
What to Watch For:
Daniel
Suárez, who became the first Mexican to win a NASCAR national series
race last Saturday, goes for his second straight win. He will race in
both the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
and NASCAR XFINITY Series races at Iowa this weekend. ... Brad
Keselowski, the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, readies to
compete in the NASCAR XFINITY Series during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
off weekend. ... Ben Kennedy, great grandson of NASCAR
founder Bill France, makes his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut. ... Series
wins leader Erik Jones tries for his third victory of the season after
finishing fourth at Michigan. ... Sam Hornish Jr. prepares for his first
start of the season in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs
Racing Toyota. ... Sisters Paige and Claire Decker will make their
NASCAR XFINITY Series debuts this weekend.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race: Speediatrics 200
Place: Iowa Speedway
Date and Time: Saturday, June 18 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Tune-in: FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 175 miles (200 laps)
What to Watch For:
Series leader Matt Crafton goes for his fifth consecutive top-two
finish. He boasts
two wins during his current streak. ... NASCAR Next alum Rico Abreu
sets his sight on his first win after running second on final lap at
Texas before scraping the wall and finishing ninth. ... Brad Keselowski
Racing's Daniel Hemric and Tyler Reddick – fourth
and sixth, respectively, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
standings – try to lock up Chase berths. ... Johnny Sauter attempts to
continue his run of three straight finishes of fourth or better.
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