Ty Dillon enjoyed a stellar run at Talladega Superspeedway, though history will show it was Tony Stewart who finished sixth Sunday.
Stewart started the NASCAR Sprint Cup Geico 500 and is, therefore, the driver of record. But Stewart stepped out of the car on Lap 52 and Dillon ran the remainder of the race.
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Stewart, who suffered a broken vertebra in his back in January and raced for the first time this season at Richmond on April 24, planned to step out of the car during the first caution period due to the track’s high probability of crashes.
It turned out to be a good call as crashes marred much of the racing. The transition took about 80 seconds, with Dillon remaining on the lead lap as Stewart had just gotten the free pass.
.@TonyStewart climbs out. @tydillon climbs in.#NASCAR @TalladegaSuperS https://t.co/LwneJLZJUh
— FOX SPORTS: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 1, 2016
Dillon worked his way through traffic and stayed out of major incidents to take home a top-10 finish.
“We had a really strong car,” he said. “Fighting from behind, it’s hard to get it up front. I felt like if we could lead a pack at any point, we would have put ourselves up front. Early on, once I first got in the car, we drove right up into the top 10 really quick and we had some air on the nose and was able to go.
“The team built an awesome race car. I just kind of got mired back. I made some mistakes being my first time here racing. But we were able to dodge crashes and survive here, which is the big thing. We made some good moves at the end to get us into the top six or seven.”
His assessment of Talladega racing after his first Cup appearance there?
“It was just wild and crazy,” he said.