Dover, Del. – The glass slipper still fits for Ty Dillon and the Cinderella No. 10 Kaulig Racing team.
The 32nd and final seed in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series In-Season Challenge, Dillon got around John Hunter Nemechek on the first restart after the late red flag for rain. Then, he got the free pass after the eighth and final caution of the day to finish 20th ahead of Nemechek’s 22nd at Dover Motor Speedway on Sunday (July 20).
“Today and yesterday, people have been texting me that they’re praying for me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head the last couple of laps,” Dillon said. “It’s been a cool run, something I’ve been proud of. Kaulig Racing deserves this, our sponsors deserve this. Like this whole run, man, who’s next?”
So, who will be the Goliath to Dillon’s David? That would be Ty Gibbs. Like Dillon, Gibbs trailed his In-Season Challenge semifinal opponent Tyler Reddick going into the red flag when a brief but torrential downpour hit The Monster Mile, halting the field with 14 laps left.
On the ensuing Reddick got held up on the inside line by the older tires of Austin Dillon, opening the door for Gibbs to pass him on the outside. On the first overtime attempt on lap 400, Gibbs created further separation from his fellow Toyota driver, bringing the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota home fifth to Reddick’s 12th.
Afterward, Gibbs was grateful to advance to the final after his late-race rally.
“Yeah, we had a good day and put together a good finish,” Gibbs told Frontstretch post-race. “We got around the 45 on that restart, and it worked our way.”
In a post-race press conference, No. 54 team owner Joe Gibbs expressed excitement over advancing to the final and commended the team’s resilience after a rough start to 2025.
“I really appreciate everybody on that [54] team,” Gibbs said. “I think they care for Ty, and it was just a huge deal, and we’ve added a lot to that team, as you guys know. So, when you see somebody go through some real tough stuff like that, and this sport will really measure you, but those guys have fought back.”
As for Reddick, he lamented falling short of a chance to race for $1 million.
“Yeah, we just didn’t really go in the right direction on the right side tires,” Reddick explained. “It’s kind of something we fought all day long. We were hoping it was going to work out for us and, unfortunately, it didn’t.”
The five-week tournament now comes down to the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gibbs placed 23rd last year in his lone career start on the 2.5-mile oval. Dillon, on the other hand, has more experience at Indianapolis, with a career-best finish of 13th in five starts on the oval configuration. Dillon also boasts an Xfinity win there, kissing the bricks back in 2014.
“Absolutely,” Dillon said about his prior experience at Indianapolis giving him confidence. “Yeah, just like every step of the way in this challenge, and we got just one more.”
Gibbs showed gratitude in making the In-Season Challenge final, but with a focus on other goals.
“Yeah, I think it’s most important to win the race and then we can make the playoffs,” Gibbs said.
All eyes will certainly be on the No. 10 and No. 54 cars throughout all 160 laps at Indianapolis next week as the first installment of the In-Season Challenge reaches its culmination.
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.