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.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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