Ty Dillon wins ARCA race at Michigan
In a caution-filled race, Dillon notched his fourth victory of the season. He is the grandson of NASCAR legend and current team owner Richard Childress.
The 19-year-old from Lewisville, N.C., started second and stayed around the top five for a majority of the race before race leader Cale Gale blew a tire with just five laps to go.
“That car was awesome. It was a rocket ship all day," Dillon said. “Just clean air meant so much, and the very first restart I thought we were going to be able to get out front and lead some laps.
“But Cale was really strong all day, and I hate that he blew a tire and his race ended that way."
Dillon has won six of 11 races in the ARCA series, including the final two of the 2010 season.
Gale, who completed a lap in 37.97 seconds (189.623 mph) to set a qualifying record, took close to a five-second lead before bowing out with five laps to go. He finished 19th.
Dillon has proven he can win on different types of tracks and has made several late charges for victory, as he did Friday. Dillon has won at Talladega, Toledo, Chicagoland and Michigan this season.
After Gale opened up a large lead, Dillon said he knew patience was the key as he trusted in his team and in his car.
“That’s the second or third time the leader has blown a tire, so I just learn to stay patient in these races and not get down on yourself and keep fighting," Dillon said. “You never know what can happen."
Given his early success, Childress said Dillon might race in a few NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races before the season is over.
There were seven cautions in the race, accounting for 39 laps in the 100-lap race.
Max Gresham, who started seventh, finished second while Tim George Jr. was third after winning last week at Pocono.
Gresham and Dillon battled after the final restart on the final lap with Gresham, an 18-year-old making his seventh ARCA start and first on a superspeedway, in the lead and Dillon second.
That was until Dillon moved past him on the final lap to take the victory.
“We worked to get our Camry really fast there by the end of the race," Gresham said. “We were by far the fastest car on the track. I came off of Turn 4 really well. I thought that if I would have had one more lap there I probably could have got Ty."