For Ty Dillon, heading to unfamiliar territory has become an old habit this season, his first in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. So far, it hasn’t hurt the 20-year-old driver one bit.
Dillon carries a narrow points lead into the truck tour’s next stop, Saturday night’s Smith’s 350 (8:30 p.m. ET, SPEED) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. While Dillon has raced on a handful of 1.5-mile tracks this season, it’s another all-new facility for him.
“I’ve had zero experience at Vegas, so I’m looking forward to it. All you can do it look forward to it,” Dillon said. “We’ve been fairly successful this year, being that it’s our rookie year and pretty much all the tracks we’ve never been to. We’re going to hit it hard, look over all our notes, watch past races and do the best we can to be prepared when we get there.”
Dillon has commanded the points lead for two straight weeks, logging a runner-up effort and third-place finish on the heels of his breakthrough truck series victory Aug. 31 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But his lead is a tenuous one, with James Buescher — who possesses a series-best four wins this season — just four points back.
Even with the relative lack of experience, team owner and grandfather Richard Childress says the younger Dillon has exceeded expectations.
“We knew he would run good, but we didn’t quite think he would be in the position he is today,” Childress said. “I felt he would win a race or two, and he’s been in contention to win two or three races. He’s really a smart racer. I think Buescher’s going to be tough to beat and there’s a couple other ones right there with him, but I think he’ll give ’em a good run.”
Action sports star Travis Pastrana, who has made nine Nationwide starts this season, is scheduled to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut Saturday at Las Vegas. He’ll drive a ThorSport Racing Toyota as a teammate to Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter.
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