It doesn’t feel that long ago that Ty Dillon was competing for wins in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Yet over a decade has elapsed since his last full-time Truck season in 2013. In two full-time seasons driving for his grandfather Richard Childress, Dillon captured three wins that aided points finishes of fourth in 2012 and second in 2013.
Since then, Dillon’s NASCAR path has been unconventional compared to older brother Austin Dillon, who has competed in the NASCAR Cup Series full time for Richard Childress Racing since 2014.
Instead, Ty has sought to blaze his own path after three full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series seasons that saw him net one victory for RCR. In 2017, he joined Germain Racing in Cup, with whom he competed until the team ceased operations following 2020.
After spending 2021 part time between all three series, Dillon returned to full-time Cup racing with Petty GMS Racing in the No. 42. That was a one-and-done deal that left him searching for a ride for 2023, when he eventually landed at Spire Motorsports. While Spire has seen much improvement, especially from Corey LaJoie, Dillon was often stranded mid-pack or worse. That once again led to Dillon searching for a ride for 2024.
In a somewhat surprising move, the Welcome, N.C., native returned to Trucks, joining Rackley WAR in the No. 25 Chevrolet. Rackley is a young team itself, wrapping up its third full-time season in 2023. Matt DiBenedetto gave the team its first win in 2022.
So what ultimately attracted and prompted Dillon to return to the Truck level? A desire to compete for trophies.
“It started with weighing different options this offseason,” Dillon tells Frontstretch. “Opportunities were moving in and out to go Cup racing, to be Cup racing full time, or there’s Xfinity or Trucks. My ultimate goal was to try and get back to, no matter the series, winning and running up front, competing for championships and trying to get myself back in that mindset.”
Seven years spent with mid-pack Cup teams didn’t provide much stability for Dillon either. And as any competitor would want, the crave to win was a top priority for Dillon in his offseason search.
“The last few years in the Cup Series have been challenging bouncing from new team to new team to teams that are young or developing,” he says. “They were teams that weren’t expected to run up front and leading races, and that can be challenging at times. As much as I would…
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