Optimism reigns for Ty Dillon and GEICO team on and off the track

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Since Ty Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE departed Phoenix Raceway with a top-15 finish in March, the world has experienced a significant shift. In the midst of it all, the Germain Racing driver’s light has shined, bringing hope to people and making an impact when it’s most needed.
 
Dillon has posted workout videos with tips on how to stay healthy, along with making statements amid difficult times and embracing friends during critical moments. At just 28-years old, the young husband and father has acted with wisdom far beyond his years.
 
While the world has struggled to make sense of all that’s happened, optimism reigns in the Dillon household. His love for God and family is unwavering and is palpable whenever he speaks publicly. The year began with a struggle for Dillon and his wife, Haley, when the couple experienced a miscarriage. They were transparent in their pain and shared their emotions with folks on social media, inevitably helping others who’ve experienced a similar fate. Regardless of the circumstances, the couple chooses to be transparent in their journey in the hope of helping others navigate their own.
 
Just a week ago, the Dillon’s joyfully announced that Haley was again pregnant and that their rainbow baby would be arriving in November. A boy that they will be naming Kapton Reed, with ‘Kapton’ being a name they both heard years ago and fell in love with, while ‘Reed’ is both a family name and Ty’s middle name. He will be arriving around the same time their daughter, Oakley, is nearing her third birthday.
 
The racetrack is a venue which has also provided satisfaction. In 2020, Dillon and his GEICO team have experienced noticeable improvement on the always challenging intermediate-sized racetracks along the NASCAR Cup Series circuit. Notably, the group turned in a top-10 finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a track that can often leave teams frustrated, shortly before the pandemic placed the sport on hold in March.
 
When the NASCAR Cup Series returned to action on Sunday, May 17th at Darlington Raceway, a facility affectionately dubbed ‘The Lady in Black’, Dillon picked up where he left off. However, with the pandemic looming, NASCAR afforded no practice sessions or qualifying to its drivers. Despite this, Dillon hopped in his No. 13 GEICO Camaro and posted a 19th place finish at a track famed for dispensing damaged sheet metal to all cars who dare challenge it.
 
Two days later, Germain Racing debuted their appropriately themed, ‘GEICO Hump Day’ paint scheme, which managed to win the internet when the Cup Series again took to the racing surface at Darlington Raceway on, of course, ‘Hump Day’. Dillon started the race from the second position and dashed out to the lead, taking command of the race for eight laps in an event that saw 17 lead changes among 13 drivers. He matched Sunday’s effort and went back-to-back on 19th place finishes, a notable feat at the track ‘Too Tough to Tame’.
 
Fast forward to June 21st, when Dillon and his GEICO Chevy were inside the top-five on the final lap of the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, before cars began crashing at the finish line. Dillon was forced to jump on the brakes, but still managed to score a 12th place finish. Most recently, the GEICO driver stormed into Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most esteemed of all racing venues (and the one where he notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win in 2014), on July 5th and collected a 14th place finish. He followed it up a week later with a 16th place finish at Kentucky Speedway, Germain Racing’s best-ever NASCAR Cup Series result in the Bluegrass State.
 
Then, just this week, Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Hump Day Camaro visited Bristol Motor Speedway on, you guessed it, Hump Day, for the yearly All-Star Open. While he started 20th, Dillon strategically dashed through the field amid tight-quarters on the fast and high-banked racetrack and soon found himself at the front. Dillon led briefly before ultimately delivering Caleb the Camel safely across the finish line in the fifth position at the ‘World’s Fastest Half-Mile’.
 
While change is the only guarantee in this rapidly evolving world, Dillon and Germain Racing seem to be in full embrace of whatever comes their way as they collectively make progress on the racetrack. The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season marches on and the GEICO team continues to trend upward, while Dillon, himself, remains fixed in the role of a lighthouse, projecting light and hope in all directions as the world continues to navigate uncertainty.
 
“I’m really pumped to be heading into the second half of the season, coming off three really solid runs here,” Dillon said. “After coming out of the break for the coronavirus pandemic, our GEICO team has settled in and found our groove again these last few weeks. I’m looking forward to coming down the stretch and improving on everything that we have built over the last couple of years.”
 
Dillon continued, “When you go through a time of what we’ve been through as a country and as human beings, it’s always good to look for what you can do to improve yourself. My family and I have been constantly trying to grow in our understanding in all things and empathizing with all people in these situations. This is something that Haley and I want to pass down to our children, Oakley and Kapton. Our approach to everything in life is to remain humble and open your mind. Just thinking you know enough and getting by isn’t sufficient and it’s all about growing and continuing to understand more as you go on.” 
 
Ty Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Camaro ZL1 1LE will hit the track at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 19th, for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. The race will be televised live on NBCSN beginning at 3 PM (ET). The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will carry the live radio broadcast, along with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
 
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