- 32nd-seeded Ty Dillon advances to the In-Season Challenge championship round
- Dillon credits persistence and execution, despite having zero wins this season
- The underdog will battle Ty Gibbs for a $1 million prize at the Brickyard 400
Ty Dillon might not be lighting up leaderboards this NASCAR Cup Series season, but he’s now one race away from a $1 million payday and one of the most improbable upsets in recent memory.
After securing 20th at Dover Motor Speedway in Round 4 of NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge, Dillon advanced to the tournament finale at the Brickyard 400 — defeating higher-profile drivers like Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and John Hunter Nemechek along the way.
“We haven’t been a dominating car,” Dillon admitted after the race. “But we’ve been a pain to everyone around us.”
That pain paid off. Dillon held off both Hamlin and Christopher Bell in the closing laps and capitalised on a free pass during a late caution on Lap 401. His grit even sparked a heated reaction from Hamlin, who reportedly called Dillon an “idiot” over team radio during the race.
“It’s hard to say we lucked into this,” Dillon said. “We’ve just stayed aggressive and executed. That’s all we can do.”
Dillon’s journey to the final has been anything but typical. Currently 30th in the Cup Series standings, with just one top-10 finish and an average result of 22nd, the Kaulig Racing driver has stayed laser-focused on the tournament format rather than the traditional playoff chase. His bracket wins have come not from dominance but from survival — and smart execution.
The bracket challenge began with 32 drivers. Now only two remain: Dillon and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, the No. 6 seed, who earned his spot by outperforming Tyler Reddick at Dover. While Gibbs has been seen as a rising star and a natural pick to make the final, Dillon’s presence comes as a shock to most observers — perhaps even to himself.
Even Nemechek, who was eliminated by Dillon at Dover, congratulated him post-race. And Kaulig Racing was jubilant as their long-shot driver secured a place in the showdown.
The final takes place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Dillon previously celebrated a victory in the Xfinity Series back in 2014. Now, 10 years later, he’ll return with a chance at NASCAR’s first-ever In-Season Challenge title — and a $1 million prize that no one saw coming.
“Just staying aggressive, making the most of what we’ve got — that’s how we got here,” Dillon said. “And now we’re going to one of the biggest tracks in the sport with a chance to win it all.”
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