Ty Dillon, No. 42 Thorntons Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Dillon at Daytona International Speedway: Historically, Daytona is a track that Ty Dillon has been pretty successful at. The veteran has eleven previous NASCAR Cup Series starts at “The World Center Of Racing”, where he has earned three top-10s and one top-five finish, posting a best of fourth place in 2019.
In the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Dillon made ten starts, posting two top-10s, one top-five, and one pole in 2016, with a best race result of third place. In three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts, Dillon posted two top-10 finishes as well as one pole driving for GMS Racing in 2015, securing the organization’s first ever pole. Dillon also has one ARCA Menards Series start to his credit in 2011, where he earned the pole in that race as well.
- Refreshing With Thorntons: Ty Dillon and the No. 42 Petty GMS team will be sporting a new look in Saturday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, as Thorntons makes their NASCAR partnership debut on the high banks at Daytona International Speedway. Thorntons has has over 200 convenience store locations spanning across six states, including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. - Momentum On His Side: The past three NASCAR Cup Series races have been great to Dillon, as he earned three top-20 finishes in a row in three completely different disciplines at Michigan, Richmond, and Watkins Glen. On Sunday, Ty was able to secure points in both stages, proving to be a threat throughout the entire race. Dillon looks to carry this recent momentum into the regular season finale this weekend.
- From the Drivers Seat: You’ve had some very competitive showings at Daytona and Talladega this season, what is it about super speedway racing that fits your wheelhouse?
“I’m excited to go to Daytona this week with our Allegiant Camaro ZL1. Super speedway racing is always exciting, you never know what the result can be, and you’ve got to put yourself in a good position to be at the end of the race. I’ve done well at that in the past, so it is a great opportunity to get ourselves into the playoffs.”
Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
-Jones at Daytona International Speedway: For the final race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, teams return to Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 where Erik Jones will make his 12 Cup Series start at the historical 2.5-mile superspeedway. A place Jones has adapted well to in his young career, Daytona will always be a special place to Jones as the location of his first Cup Series win in 2018. Battling back from laps down with a damaged car from an early race accident, Jones was able to lead the most important lap of the race, the final lap, and hold off Martin Truex, Jr. to earn his first-career Cup Series win. Jones earned a second win at the track in the 2020 season opener exhibition race, The Busch Clash, where he again only led the final lap.
With 11 Cup Series starts at the track, Jones has one win, two top-five finishes, three top-10 finishes with 39 laps led. In addition to his Cup starts at the track, Jones has six starts in the Xfinity Series with a best finish of eighth in 2015. In the Truck Series, Jones has one start in 2015 where he finished second.
-Erik Jones Appearances: Fans attending Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway will have several chances to see Erik Jones before the race:
RV Retailer Display: Jones will be at the RV Retailer display in the Midway from 3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 27.
Track Q & A at UNOH Stage: Following his appearance at the RV Retailer display, Jones will make his way inside the track to the UNOH stage in the infield Fan Zone area for a Q & A from 4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET.
-Focused on Winning: FOCUSfactor will serve as the primary partner on Jones’s Chevrolet Camaro for Saturday’s race at Daytona International Speedway.
- About FOCUSfactor: FOCUSfactor is sold at America’s leading retailers such as Costco, Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, The Vitamin Shoppe and Amazon.com. FOCUSfactor, America’s leading brain health supplement, is a nutritional supplement that includes a proprietary blend of brain supporting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutrients. In December 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 8,329,227 covering FOCUSfactor’s proprietary formulation “for enhanced mental function”. The issuance of the patent marked one of the few times a patent has been issued for a nationally branded nutritional supplement. FOCUSfactor is clinically tested with results demonstrating improvements in focus, concentration and memory in healthy adults.
- From the Driver’s Seat:
You are in a must win situation heading into this weekend’s race at Daytona. How do you feel about your chances?
“We’re focused on Daytona. We’ve been putting a lot of work into our Daytona car to get it better, get it ready and prepped the way we want too. I feel like our superspeedway stuff has been good, we just need to take advantage of it. We’re definitely focused on winning and making our way into the Playoffs.”
How do you approach a race at Daytona where there can be a lot of chaos to be there at the end with a chance to win?
“Earlier this season at Talladega, we kind of just pushed hard all day and we were up front and had a shot to win. I hope to have a similar race like that. Just be up front and avoid the chaos for the most part. We’ll see. It’s different every week, every race on the superspeedways. You have to be mindful of how everyone’s running and judge it from that.”
You’ve won at Daytona and have run well at Talladega, so that has to be good for your confidence. What is the mindset heading into the race this weekend?
“It’s confident. I know we can go do it, I know we can run well there, and I know we can have a shot to win. We just have to execute and hope we’re staying out of trouble and avoid a lot of the chaos and be up there and have a shot. We’ll see. It’s going to be tough for sure to just be there at the end to have a chance, but I feel good about our speed we’re going to have for sure.”
Do you think you will be able to find friends to push you or help you throughout the race?
“I think we’ll have a fast car for sure, so I think there’s going to be people who will want to work with us just because of that. I think speedway’s get a little separated from the other races of the year because of who’s fast and who has a chance. If we’ve got a fast car, I think we’ll find some friends throughout the race.”
ABOUT PETTY GMS:
Petty GMS competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, operating the No. 42 Chevrolet for Ty Dillon and the No. 43 Chevrolet for Erik Jones. Founded in December 2021, Maury Gallagher, championship team owner of GMS Racing, purchased a majority interest of Richard Petty Motorsports. Inaugural NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, known as “The King,” remains a key stakeholder of the organization. For more information, please visit www.pettygms.com.
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