July 23, 2025 • 33 mins
Ty Dillon has been the belle of the ball with the NASCAR in-season tournament. Dillon joins the show to explain how he and Kaulig Racing have capitalized on the attention; staying relevant in the series; the fight for relevancy in his career; the path his career has taken; the type of person it takes to stick it out in the Cup Series; how racing has played into the type of person he’s become; not driving for Richard Childress Racing; landing at Kaulig Racing; how Dillon has been impacted by the people around him; clicking with crew chief Andrew Dickeson; being pushed by those around him when needed; having fun in racing; being a reminder there is more to racing than what is happening at the front; the work behind the wheel after not running the full 2024 season; comfortability with the Gen7 car; looking ahead to Indianapolis; the Gen7 car at Indianapolis versus previous versions; expectations for the remainder of the season.
Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
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Original music created by Tony Monge.
Follow me here: https://linktr.ee/kellycrandall
PRE-ORDER: NASCAR Race Day Eats https://insighteditions.com/products/nascar-race-day-eats
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your host,
Kelly Krandle. Our guest today is ty Dylan, who I'm
sure you have seen and heard a lot of recently.
It's been the summer of Tie, certainly the in season
Tournament of Tie, as he has advanced from the number
thirty two seed to take on Ty Gibbs, the number
six seed this weekend in the finale Indidianapolis Motor Speedway
for the one million dollar prize. So Tye has been
(00:29):
all over the place, getting tons of attention himself and
calling racing over the last five weeks well deserved, and
that includes making a stop here on the podcast. So
we're going to recap what this run has been like,
what it means for the team, how they've capitalized on
all this attention, as well as talking about the season
overall for Tye and his number ten team, what it's
like to be at colleague racing, how they have rallied
(00:51):
around him, what a difference that has made, as well
as a little bit about just his Cup career in general.
So we packed a lot into this thirty minute conversation,
and again he's used to it at the point because
he's been making the media rounds as kind of the
bell of the ball so far this summer here in NASCAR.
So I hope you enjoy it. Let's jump in and
hear from Ty on the Racing Writers Podcast. All right,
(01:18):
there we go, So now we can talk about the
guy who's been the star of the summer. How about that?
It's like the summer and the tournament of Ty Dylan.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I feel like, yeah, absolutely, it's been a fun run
here the last couple of weeks. So it's it's been
so cool and getting the recognition in this n season
tournament and one away from a million dollars, one away
from a million.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You've talked a lot, of course about what this has
been like, right, the attention, the media, the social media,
the television. On that note, though, I'm curious because I
had asked you back in Chicago after you made it
through the first round of how you guys capitalized on
just all of that, right, and now here you are
three weeks later, So in what ways Tie, are you
(01:57):
and call of Racing seeing the impact that this is
having on you guys, maybe on your sponsors. Just is
there a way to measure all of this?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, there's so many levels to it, you know, like
there's obviously the fan attention, the media attention, which has
been massive. We literally just had a luncheon for our
team because we're excited about what's going on and we're
trying to roll with this momentum from this, and you know,
it's I feel like everything is kind of coming together
for the attention that we've kind of deserved. I feel
(02:28):
like for the growth that Colleague racing and in general
has shown, and Aj as well, like he's had an
amazing year or two, and this is n season tournaments
really just shined a light on us. But I think
all the way around, for our partners, for myself, for everybody,
it's been cool. It's felt like we've literally won the
last couple of races with all the immediate attention we have,
and I'm not so sure we haven't had more media
(02:49):
attention than the winners, So it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I also think of the word relevant, right, I feel
like for you it's helped keep you relevant, not just
what you and the team is doing and telling your story,
as you mentioned on TNT post race at Dover, but
for you, do you feel like that's an accurate word
to kind of keep you relevant in the series right now.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, for sure. I mentioned it in T and T.
Like this point of season usually when a team like
ours kind of gets put to the wayside, whether we're
doing good or not, Like, if we're not actually winning
the race, we're probably not going to get talked about
because rightfully so, most of the attentions usually on the
guys getting into the points the last couple of positions,
or the guys running one to two on track. And
this n season tournament has drawn attention to a team
(03:31):
like ours who is still growing and getting better each
week and deserves some shine for the hard work. And
so yeah, it's cut relevance. And that was kind of
one of our goals going in this year, is like,
and it came from Chris Rice, is like, make them
talk about us. Our goal is to make them talk
about us, obviously in a good way, but make them
know we're here. And this has done just that for us,
and we're very proud of it. But obviously it's gonna
(03:53):
hopefully parlay into a solid finish to our season.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So for you, I think that word also applies to
like your career, Like you and I have talked many
times about different rides and different companies and just trying
to stay relevant overall as a Cup Series driver is
hard to.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Do, yeah, for sure, And you know everybody's career turns
out different. Mine has been one that I've had to
show a lot of perseverance and grinding to get better
on and off the track, and as many ways as
possible to just stick around and get one more chance.
And I found myself in the best opportunity I've ever
been with at College Racing, a place that I feel
so loved and accepted. They've shown confidence in me, which
(04:32):
is in turn turned into real confidence inside the race car.
And you know, we're not where we want to be,
you know, like we're celebrating because we finished twentieth to
get to the next round, but you know, we see
the future in front of us. The recipe for success
is there and getting better. We have speed in a
race car, so it's about capitalizing on it and continuing
this run as a group.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I want to tie it into Collige Racing and talk
more about this season specific in a minute. But your
career time, I mean, did you think at this point
it would be different? I mean, I think you've mentioned
that a little bit of kind of like the way
you were coming up the ranks, you probably envisioned at
this point that your career would have taken a different trajectory.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, for sure. You know, you know you had this
vision when I came through Exfinity of like what is
going to look like? I was a race for RCR
with a bunch of races and stay on that same path,
And it just didn't work out that way. And I
wouldn't change the way my careers worked out from all
the different highs and lows I had gone through in and
out of the sport, because it's made me who I
am now. It's given me just a heartful gratitude and
(05:32):
appreciation for the opportunities that have gotten like being here
at Color Racing. And I wouldn't have seen it like
this probably if it would have just been all easy.
And so I'm grateful for the journey I've been on
and believing that the best is still yet to come.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
When you say you wouldn't change it, that's interesting because
I'm curious what type of person or mindset does it
take to continue to stay at it and continue to fight.
I'm sure there's been plenty of mental battles along the way.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, just resilience, And like, I don't think that's something
you know, you're born resilient somewhat, but unless you walk
through the fire and continue to push forward day after
day through hard things. It doesn't have to be racing.
Everybody goes through hard things in life and it's unavoidable.
But I just feel like one of the biggest qualities
is to keep putting one step in front of the other,
(06:20):
especially if you have dreams and aspirations that you're going
for and to be able to live that out. Like
through my career, it's made me stronger as a husband
and a father and as a friend two people, and
it's just made me more well rounded as a human being.
And you know, then when you have little things that
come up and you know you have this micro scale
of perspective life of being resilient has paid off, and
(06:43):
then you get into a race when it's a micro
I don't know if I said macro first, but macro
when it pays off, and then you get into a
race in a micro situation and it's like, Okay, I
feel down or I'm behind the forty two here at Dover,
but I know, don't give up and just keep fighting
hard and it can work out, just like other things
in life. So it just builds confidence to continued growth
(07:04):
as a person. And you know, God has a way
of putting you on a path in life that might
not always look like what you projected, but He's got
a reason behind it, and it might take longer than
you expected to realize the fruits of it. And I
feel like some of this that's going on now is
some of the fruit, and I hope there's a lot
more to come from that in future.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Is that an interesting dynamic you never would have thought,
which is what you go through and the career that
you have as a race car driver is also going
to shape you as a person.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, certainly. I think that's one of those things that
people like to say when you're going through hard things,
is like, this is going to make you better in
the future. But it really does. But it only does
if you take a real good kind of step back
and look at yourself and say, how can I grow
from this? How can I not point fingers at other
for the hard situation I'm in or blame it on
outside perspective, but how can I be better for the
(07:53):
next time I go through something like this in life
and then believing that there is going to be a
next time where you're going to have a chance to excel.
So I'm very, very proud of the way that everything's
kind of turned out in that and like I said,
I wouldn't change that kind of perspective for anything.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
How many times do you get asked why you don't
drive for OURCR?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I get asked quite a bit, you know, Honestly, I
fully don't know the question, and I don't know if
anybody RCR really knows, or my grandfather fully knows. It's
so many things have to come together to put opportunities
in line. And you know, in full transparency, my grandfather's
not a team owner that owns, you know, most of
the car dealerships in the country that Chevrolet owns, or
(08:34):
he's not the owner that owns Indianapolis and Indy Car,
doesn't have any outside business that's funding his race team.
So it's fully reliant on sponsors and money coming together,
and that has to line up in perfect timing, and
it just never has over at RCR, and we've wanted
to make it work. I've certainly wanted to make it
work in the past and just hasn't. And it's one
(08:55):
of those things like I talk about, it's like you
can't get caught up in point fingers and blaming things
for not working out. I know this should have been
something that I'd done or I wish and I could
ruin my career that way. It was always just Okay, well,
where is the next opportunity. I'm going to keep fighting
for my dream. This is what I want, So where's
the next opportunity. Where's the next chance I can get
to try to prove it. It might not be at
equal equipment, but it's going to give me a chance
(09:16):
to be out there and learn some more and get
a little bit better and find things that I can
improve on. So that's kind of been a story for me.
I don't ever blame or point fingers at why it
hasn't worked at RCR. It just hasn't. But I don't
think it was supposed to at this point.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So from the outside looking in, One more thing on
this part of it is it seems like tie. It's
kind of ebbed and flowed in terms of You've had
your opportunities, but you've been tied to RCR. But you
then made it known you wanted to do your own thing,
but now it seems like you're really kind of more
back in the fold with the family stuff and maybe
the business side of things. Is that a correct kind
of from the outside looking in of how this is unfolded.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, I think there's a narrative that, like, I wanted
to go do my own thing at times, but it
was just because there was an opportunity at RCR, so
I had to fight find a way to survive and
provide for my family. It's not like my grandfather's cutting
me a personal check to live off of so and
that's not the way he would want to you know.
He really wants my brother and I to go out
and earn everything that we have, and so, you know,
(10:15):
I don't really like the narrative of that I left.
It's just that I had to go and kind of
find my way. And We've gone through seasons of life
as any families have, as far as where we've been,
as far as our relationship, and closer at some times
than others. But now as we get older and you know,
we're in a great part of our career and having success.
But my brother and I certainly have a lot of
(10:37):
aspirations of being a part of our cr in the future.
And my grandfather has been tightly close to everything that's
going on in my career and doing what he can
to help make things better for situations to play out.
So it hasn't been all on my own the things
that I've done, and he's obviously helped me in some ways.
But you know, it's just the ebbs and flows of
(10:58):
a racing career and a life as far as humans,
that you kind of go and you come back sometimes,
and I think it makes us all better for it.
And yeah, you know, I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
Hopefully I have a long racing career, but I think
my brother and I are really excited for what the
future could hold for him and I and my grandfather
as far as businesses in the future too.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
All Right, So let's circle it back to Calleague Racing
and this opportunity. Let's remind folks tie of kind of
how this all came together with Chris Rice and Matt
Calling and kind of what you expected going into it,
and here we are now in July, and how kind
of how it's playing out.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, it started last year with five races they had,
I think five races open, and we had some sponsorship
money to run some races in Cup, one of those
being Sea Best, and you know, I think at the
time it was kind of like, all right, we'll put
him in and see what this guy can do. I
was running trucks and we weren't running very good at
the time, so I think the confidence was maybe low,
but they never showed that here, and when I showed up,
(11:58):
I felt so accepted the time I walked into colleg
Racing from every person starting with Chris, Rice, Matt colleague,
and every man and woman that's here in this shop,
like they made me feel cared about and believed in
from that first race, and that confidence hasn't stopped. And
Chris has challenged me to get better, the race teams
challenged me to get better, and I've challenged them to
keep pushing me to get better. And then we're also
(12:21):
just growing as a team and making things better weekend
and week out. Like I've said it quite a few times,
I really feel like we're only at twenty five percent
of the potential where we want to be and where
we probably see ourselves going. And that's exciting, especially for
the way that we've been running and the attention we're getting.
So we're here to make waves and we're going to
continue to get better.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
All right. A couple things from that When you say,
obviously confidence has been a big thing, and I've heard
you say that repeatedly, in what ways has that really
rubbed off on you? Kind of the way that Matt
and Chris and even your crew chief Andrew has just
interacted with you or the things they've said to you.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Just consistent communication where almost every other team might've been at,
like there's this lull and communication after races and before
races of like, what's our goal? What do we see?
You know? Where we at? Where are you at with me?
What are your expectations of me? What's your expectations of
our team? Like that is a constant communication here, and
that's a constant you know, adjusted bar each week is
(13:18):
whether we do good or we do bad. And I
think that's what is appreciated the most, and it never
comes across as negativity or browbeating. It's more just like, hey,
this is what we thought we were going to do,
this is what we want to do, this is where
we need to be hey, this is something you needed
to work on so that we can be at this level.
I mean earlier this year, we really had a legit
shot to probably win at Phoenix and nice sped on
(13:39):
Pitt Road and Chris called me his office and he's like,
all right, I'm penalizing you. You're I'm gonna knock your
pit road speed down for the next five races and
if you speed again, I'm gonna knock it down more,
and like you're going to be the slowest one on
Pitt Road until you get that right. And we literally
went through that exercise and I didn't speed for the
longest time up until I think two weeks ago, and
(14:00):
so no I got my first speeding family since then
because they had opened me back up. So that was
the first thing it said to Chris. Even after we
knocked Alex. I was like, dude, I know you're gonna
be mad at me. You're gonna penalize my pit road speed.
But just little things like that, it's just communication. Because
he gives me goals I can go out there and
achieve them. Then it gives him confidence in me, and
then we reset and then I get confidence in myself
and there was a point early in the race. We
(14:23):
had gotten into a little bit of trouble, like in
the first third of races early in the season, and
Chris came to me and was like, Hey, we're gonna
race these one third at a time. Once the first
third of the race, just survive, don't get left. Second third,
we're gonna improve, and then the last bit, I want
you to go all out. And I started putting that
into play and we've improved on that too. So just
I think being able to communicate like that, like not
(14:45):
feeling like he's coming at me in a negative way.
Andrew does things like that with me too, where he
communicates in such a positive way. I know they believe
in me, and then when I can go out there
and achieve the goals they give me, it gives me
that confidence too, and we just kind of keep parlaying
off that and growing the momentum.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So Andrew is interesting because you did a midweek media
availability with us, you know, a week or two ago,
and you talked a lot about Andrew. So I tuned
in a little bit more at Dover to kind of
just listen to him and see how it was going.
And you can definitely tell that when he comes over
the radio, he's very much I'm gonna pump my driver up.
We're in this and he was talking about I need
like a Ti Dylan restart here at the end. I mean, obviously,
(15:25):
crew chief and driver are so important in this sport.
We've seen that over the years with many different pairings.
What is it about him and you and him Ty
that just has clicked and this has clearly worked.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
He I think one of the most surprising things about
Andrew is like he has this overwhelming positivity when he's
calling the race, and he's always believing in the best,
which is the kind of person that I am. And
sometimes whatever reason in the race car, like you're fighting
so many negativities sometimes when you're not winning, and as
a driver it's easy to get frustrated with the heat
(15:57):
and everything going on, and he is like really entlessly
positive that we're going to make the most of every moment.
And that's the kind of person I like to be.
And so having that as like a just a backup,
like keeping me going has been so cool. And and
he's so passionate in a positive way. That's that's what's cool.
It's never comes across negative. He just wants our team
to be the best everything we do. We don't talk
(16:20):
very negative about our team ever. Now we might talk
negative about other teams, but not ours for sure, and
we protect that and we care about that, and we
care about the words that are said to make our
days the best. And so he's been a lot of
fun which is funny because I think he was struggling
with in the off season, like did he feel like
he was enough of a leader to be a crew chief?
(16:40):
And the only thing I told him this off Seane
was like, hey man, you who you are is enough.
Like I heard it in the last couple of races
on the radio when I wasn't even we didn't even
work together last year, but he filled in for some
of the races that I wasn't in in the sixteen
and you can just tell like that leadership was shining through.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Then.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I'm like, just be you, and our whole team will
follow that attitude, And certainly, I think there's not a
team that has more belief in each other than ours
out there right now, and we're starting to see some
fruits of that.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
All right, So you were talking about the pit road
example of your speeding and backing you down. It's funny
you say that, because I keep track every week myself
of just in my notes of who has what speeding penalties,
and I kind of tally them throughout the year. And
it is funny you say that, because when I was
putting that in there after Sonoma, I'm like, wow, he
really hasn't had yeah many of this year. So with
an example like that, are there other ways tie you
(17:33):
can explain as you were saying about on the flip side,
when they need to push you to be better, what
are some of the ways in which they've done that.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, you know, I think we had some conversations about
restarts early early in the year and then making moves
as far as clearing myself and blocking. Andrew brought myself
and our spot are in and he presented some tape
from other people, like how can we do this better?
And we just had open conversation about little verbiages that
(18:02):
we can make a little more efficient, to block better,
to make moves happen quicker, and just little things and
having conversation because sometimes it helps to hear from your
crew chief of like hey, if you're putting your car
in this situation, or if you're driving your car this way,
it's gonna make you feel more confident, or it's gonna
feel better if you put it in this spot. So
it's been a constant dialogue like here's our problem, and
(18:25):
then as a team we come together and say, how
do we put a lot of different ideas in together
to create the solution? And then I can go out
there and try to execute those things or learn and
then if I can't, then I come back and say, hey,
I can't drive the car that way. We need to
do something. So those are just little things that with
a constant communication where nobody feels like somebody's coming across
(18:46):
with a bad agenda, Like that's where I think it
gets caught up at a lot of places and other
places that've been is like sometimes that information can come
in from a negative angle where it feels like there's
an agenda behind it. To undermind you here, it always
comes in with a real clear like this is what
it is. We're gonna do it for the good of
our team. We all believe that you're doing the best,
and it comes in from such a clear heart that
(19:07):
it makes it so much easier to go out and
achieve you're not thinking about, you know what's being said
behind you.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
So is this season what it looks like for Tide
Dylan to have fun and racing again, because it seems
like you're do you talk about confidence and attitude, it
just seems like you're different and more comfortable this year.
It's fun. The word it seems is back.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, it's not a manufactured happiness that I'm having to
build each week between weeks just to get to the racetrack.
And I've genuinely left the last three weeks or four
weeks with just the biggest smile, kind of floating on
clouds because it has just been fun and it's not
like we're lighting in the world on fire with our results.
We're having some good ones. I think our average finished
is probably around sixteenth. But I've been so happy because
(19:51):
we're having something to celebrate. We're having something to high
five about after race, and when you've done it as
long as I have, and you've ran so many races,
and I've certainly had stretches of races where I've probably
had a higher average finish, but we didn't have anything
to celebrate, and there wasn't joy from the leaders above us.
To say that, you know, this is good, Like, let's
(20:12):
just live in the moment that we're having some good
runs here and that's been fun. It's not just me
having fun, Chris Rice having fun. Matt Collig we were
sitting there in the front of Schreurch at Dover and
he's like, hey, this is fun and I was like, yeah,
it is. And just to hear your owners say that
is like so relieving to know that he's having fun
on our team's behalf and he puts so much into it.
(20:33):
So those are things you live for in this sport,
and most people don't ever feel that unless they're winning.
But you got to kind of stop and take in
the good moments along the way.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That's interesting you say that because I wanted to go
in that direction for a minute, because I think it's
easy for fans and for outsiders. You turn on the
TV you watch racing every week and it's like, well,
it's about winning, right, It's about championships and the drivers
who run up front, and you know, if people can't
do that, why even show up? But I feel like
you all and it's not just you, but this is
a perfect example of there is so much more to
(21:08):
racing and what people and teams are racing for if
you're not one of those top five teams.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, for sure. I think this has probably been the
biggest win in my opinion from the N Season Tournament
is like there's such stories to tell. I always look
back at the F One, the first documentary that came
out on Netflix, Like they didn't follow the top teams,
like they didn't sign up for the program, but they
followed teams from fifth to tenth in points or whatever,
(21:34):
and that was the biggest year they had because there
was a storyline that was important there. And there's the
underdog story of the teams that don't have all the
money as the Ferraris and Mercedes and the Red Bulls
that are out here doing great work and they're they're
running good races well or finally, like we've done Netflix documentaries,
but we haven't really showcased the right part of what
I think is going to grow the depth of our sport.
(21:56):
This N Season Tournament by having stance, and I think
just by our team personally, I think we're probably the
direct beneficiary by being a thirty two seed has shown
people like, hey, there's underdog stories every week and it's
just there's just a moniker beside it. There's a bracket
and challenge and just a little bit of light on
it that has I mean, the amount of attention that
(22:17):
our team has gotten from this and we haven't really
even sniffed close to a win, But I think even
NASCAR couldn't stand back and say this hasn't been one
of the biggest wins they've had in a long time
as far as coverage and people being excited about our sports.
So it's been a cool thing. I think we got
to remember and keep refreshing ways to tell stories throughout
the season of the guys who are doing a lot
(22:38):
with maybe a little less, Like we're not a key
partner team, and I don't think the average fan understands
the difference in that, Like how much harder it is
for a team like ours that doesn't get the direct
info from Chevrolet or whatever manufacturer may be to go
out and beat the twenty five teams that are direct
key partner teams. And this whole year, like we have
(23:00):
knocked off at least two to three of those teams
that are getting a lot more information and a lot
more behind them every single weekend and this end season
tournament has shown some of that, and the timing's worked
out nice where it's been the right ones that we've beaten.
So there's a lot that a lot of storytelling that
is open still and we're just one part of that
and lucky that we're getting ready to show. We're allowed
(23:23):
to show our personality in this because of it. So
it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The drive to survive analogy is perfect because that's basically
what I meant, which is, yes, not every team can
be a race winning team, but there's so much more
that people are racing for that a top twenty is
a win for them, And again I think that's hard
for folks sometimes understand. But again, not every team can
be a winning team. You have to know what you're
(23:47):
racing for. So when you're talking about, you know your
average finish, you guys, twentieth at Dover, that is a celebration, right,
So those are the big days, I think, right, top
twenties for you.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Guys, Yeah, yeah, we want to be inside that top twenty. Obviously,
nobody straps in or nobody in the sport goes to
a racetrack not wanting to win, like that's of course
our goal every week, but we also have to have
some realistic goals of like, hey, we need to be happy,
and we need to be able to celebrate days where
we finished in the top fifteen. You know, I think
for our team now, it was like, first half the season,
(24:18):
top twenties are good. Second half the season, let's lower
that to around top fifteens, and when you get to
the top fifteen and into that top ten average finish
and you're running around that spot, the wins are right there.
Like so much stuff happens at the end of the race.
So we have to be able to celebrate along the
way so that we can realize as a team that
we're building momentum. If that doesn't ever get talked about
and we're just kind of clicking along the way, we're
(24:40):
not celebrating wins, you don't build momentum. So I mean literally,
Chris was just out here talking about He's like, it's
weird to be happy about a twentieth place, but we
deserve to be because of where we've come from the
narrative around our whole team and situation before this year.
But look at where we are now, and you know,
I just the smiles and you can feel the confidence
every person here at college, like we're freaking pumped to
(25:03):
go to Indy, and not only that, we're pumped for
the rest of the season too.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
You not running the full year last year. I think
I had asked you this a couple of weeks ago,
but I want to get it here on the record
for other fans to hear. What has it been like
for you tie behind the wheel kind of just reacclimating
to these race cars, and maybe what are some of
the biggest things you've been trying to learn or do
behind the wheel this year.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I think the hardest part is it's been two years
since I've been to a lot of these racetracks in
a cup car, and then some of these tracks I
really haven't been to even more recent than that, because
we've gone they did some new things like Iowa coming up.
It's been a long time since I've been to Ioa.
It's one of my favorite tracks, but I've never been
around in a cup car, and everybody's got a year
of experience and a lot of practice last year from
(25:45):
doing it. So that's been the harder part. Is Like
I'm doing the sim sessions, I fill up the speed
at some of these places pretty quick, but that's on
the simulator and then you got to go out for
fifteen minutes, twenty minutes and build that up. So qualifying
so important to take that leap, and we don't have
much time. I haven't had much time to work myself
(26:05):
into where my speed is. It has to be there,
So that's been kind of the hardest part is like
we've been a little bit of a step behind in practice.
I think probably just because a little bit of rush
for me not being at these tracks for two whole years,
mainly in a Cup car, and I look forward to
going back to some of these places for a second
time and just kind of getting that caught up. And
I'd say the first eight to ten races there were
(26:26):
still things that I was a little rusty on, just
on racecraft in the Cup series, to where now I
feel very confident and now I'm on the other side
of it and I feel like I'm I'm moving ahead
pretty so.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
When it comes to the race car. When this car,
now the Gen seven car, first came out, a lot
of you drivers talked about how much time it took
to adapt to the car and how even after the
first year or two, there were still things to learn
about the car. Are we at the point now tie
where you feel comfortable with knowing this race car or
(26:58):
is it still evolving from to week and year to year.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I think most of us feel pretty comfortable like and
for me, I feel probably like late us to the
party because I didn't run last year. But I now
feel very comfortable, like, Okay, I know the places I
can put the car and know the reaction of the car.
I know what's too far and I know what's not
not far enough. And it's taken to the last probably
two or three weeks, where I felt very confident in
(27:22):
knowing those things. So but I'm pretty sure all the
other guys have been knowing that for at least a
year or so. So I feel like it's you know,
it's gotten to a place where most everybody understands this
car really well and there's not much of an advantage
of the newness of the race car and who can
adapt quicker?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Right? All right, A couple more things for you as
we look ahead to Indianapolis. As a driver, take us
for a lap around India in a cup car. Kind
of the characteristics of how you approach the lap what
it's going to feel like, and maybe just your expectations
for this race.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, for sure, any one of my favorite racetracks have
had success there in the past. For me, it's all
about making turns two and turn four just part of
that long straightaway, like doing everything I can to leave
those corners full throttle as possible and just trying to
extend them as a straightaway. But you also can't lose
too much time and turn one and three getting yourself
to two and four, So that's your balance. I think
(28:15):
I pay a lot of attention and how I'm leaving
turns one and three to set up two and four.
They kind of work in opposites, so you know, once
you kind of get in the rhythm there, if you
have a car that can achieve a great exit grip
off those corners, you're gonna have a solid day. So
it's a tough one to pass at. I do feel
like it's a lot better with the next gen car,
(28:36):
so it's gonna be a fun one. There's nothing cooler
than driving down the front stretch seeing those grand stands
like just narrow in and it feels like by the
time you get to turn one, it's like the smallest
little corner and then you got the Pagoda sitting out
there to the left. It's just the history that you know,
so many people have seen that view that have been
champions and all kinds of motorsport have been down through there.
(28:56):
So I always get chills. I always get excited for
Indy and looking forward to getting there.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
You said that you feel like it's better. This race
is better with the next gen car. Can you expand
on that? What have you felt driving the other cars
to this one?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, the other cars relied so much on side force.
The next gen car has so much downforce underneath the car.
So at a one lane typically kind of a one
lane track is what India is. If you get to
the inside of somebody, all they have to do is
kind of pull down on your door and it's impossible
to pass and they get you freed up. Well, the
next gen car, if you pull down on somebody's door,
(29:32):
doesn't really loosen them up too much. It doesn't really
have too much of effects, so you can run side
by side a lot more confident. So I think that
allows the top to kind of open up is more
of an option for people, and then you're not as
timid to pass people on the bottom, especially carrying the
speed that we do around there. So yeah, I think
that's just what's made it a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So once we put Indy in the rear view mirror,
there's still plenty of racing to go. So let me
end with this kind of preview tie or what your
expectations are for this race team as you now close
out then the rest of the year, seeing what you've
already built and kind of where you hope or think
you all will be by the time we get to
and wrap up Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I hope we in somewhere with just our average
finish from the rest of the season, somewhere in the teens.
I think that would be another solid progression for our
race team. Staying inside the top twenty weekend, and we
got to feel like we've kind of showed that our
speed raw speed sits around twentieth in the race is
where we usually ending up. So I think if we
execute weekend and week out and we gain a little
bit more speed, we're gonna be running side the teams
(30:30):
and then that's gonna put us just in a really
good spot to finish out. This year is strong and
just out executing people like even no matter what happens
with this end season challenge, just not losing the momentum
from that and just keep plugging along and keeping our
tough mentality and just beating people all the way down
the stretch.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
All right, Well, I always enjoy talking to you. It's
been the summer of Tie, the Tournament of Tie, and
see how it goes at Indianapolis. But it's cool to
kind of see just overall, as we talked about just
the sixth sest story, I think this has been for
you and a team like this, so appreciate it as always,
and go lucky this.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Weekend a hill right. Thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
My appreciation once again to Tie for coming on the podcast.
I really do enjoy talking to him. I've always found
him to be very insightful and very honest, and he's
had a career that has made it interesting to listen
to him. So I do appreciate that. So thank you
Ty for coming on the podcast. Thanks for squeezing in
time for the podcast, because as I said, he has
been all over the place recently. There's been midweek media availabilities,
(31:38):
serious XM call ins. Of course, the obligations at the Racetrack,
TV interviews, social media engagement. He has been all over
the place, so appreciate the time. I also appreciate Alisha
Dial for coordinating, of course, and getting this on our calendars.
If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave a rating and review.
You can also go to social media and let me
(31:58):
know what you think. My handle on x as well
as across many platforms is at Kelly crandle X, Facebook, Instagram,
linked in, TikTok. I am quite probably in every single place,
so I do appreciate the feedback. Thank you for clicking
and listening and downloading every week. The support is greatly appreciated.
(32:19):
I also want to remind you that NASCAR Race They Eats,
the Official Cookbook of NASCAR, is available for pre order
now or you can get it wherever books are sold
when it comes out in late October. So that is
all for this week. Once again, thank you for clicking, listening, downloading,
and I will see you again real soon on the
Racing Writers Podcast
Hey, everyone, Welcome to the Racing Writers Podcast. I'm your host,
Kelly Krandle. Our guest today is ty Dylan, who I'm
sure you have seen and heard a lot of recently.
It's been the summer of Tie, certainly the in season
Tournament of Tie, as he has advanced from the number
thirty two seed to take on Ty Gibbs, the number
six seed this weekend in the finale Indidianapolis Motor Speedway
for the one million dollar prize. So Tye has been
(00:29):
all over the place, getting tons of attention himself and
calling racing over the last five weeks well deserved, and
that includes making a stop here on the podcast. So
we're going to recap what this run has been like,
what it means for the team, how they've capitalized on
all this attention, as well as talking about the season
overall for Tye and his number ten team, what it's
like to be at colleague racing, how they have rallied
(00:51):
around him, what a difference that has made, as well
as a little bit about just his Cup career in general.
So we packed a lot into this thirty minute conversation,
and again he's used to it at the point because
he's been making the media rounds as kind of the
bell of the ball so far this summer here in NASCAR.
So I hope you enjoy it. Let's jump in and
hear from Ty on the Racing Writers Podcast. All right,
(01:18):
there we go, So now we can talk about the
guy who's been the star of the summer. How about that?
It's like the summer and the tournament of Ty Dylan.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
I feel like, yeah, absolutely, it's been a fun run
here the last couple of weeks. So it's it's been
so cool and getting the recognition in this n season
tournament and one away from a million dollars, one away
from a million.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You've talked a lot, of course about what this has
been like, right, the attention, the media, the social media,
the television. On that note, though, I'm curious because I
had asked you back in Chicago after you made it
through the first round of how you guys capitalized on
just all of that, right, and now here you are
three weeks later, So in what ways Tie, are you
(01:57):
and call of Racing seeing the impact that this is
having on you guys, maybe on your sponsors. Just is
there a way to measure all of this?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Yeah, there's so many levels to it, you know, like
there's obviously the fan attention, the media attention, which has
been massive. We literally just had a luncheon for our
team because we're excited about what's going on and we're
trying to roll with this momentum from this, and you know,
it's I feel like everything is kind of coming together
for the attention that we've kind of deserved. I feel
(02:28):
like for the growth that Colleague racing and in general
has shown, and Aj as well, like he's had an
amazing year or two, and this is n season tournaments
really just shined a light on us. But I think
all the way around, for our partners, for myself, for everybody,
it's been cool. It's felt like we've literally won the
last couple of races with all the immediate attention we have,
and I'm not so sure we haven't had more media
(02:49):
attention than the winners, So it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
I also think of the word relevant, right, I feel
like for you it's helped keep you relevant, not just
what you and the team is doing and telling your story,
as you mentioned on TNT post race at Dover, but
for you, do you feel like that's an accurate word
to kind of keep you relevant in the series right now.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, for sure. I mentioned it in T and T.
Like this point of season usually when a team like
ours kind of gets put to the wayside, whether we're
doing good or not, Like, if we're not actually winning
the race, we're probably not going to get talked about
because rightfully so, most of the attentions usually on the
guys getting into the points the last couple of positions,
or the guys running one to two on track. And
this n season tournament has drawn attention to a team
(03:31):
like ours who is still growing and getting better each
week and deserves some shine for the hard work. And
so yeah, it's cut relevance. And that was kind of
one of our goals going in this year, is like,
and it came from Chris Rice, is like, make them
talk about us. Our goal is to make them talk
about us, obviously in a good way, but make them
know we're here. And this has done just that for us,
and we're very proud of it. But obviously it's gonna
(03:53):
hopefully parlay into a solid finish to our season.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
So for you, I think that word also applies to
like your career, Like you and I have talked many
times about different rides and different companies and just trying
to stay relevant overall as a Cup Series driver is
hard to.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Do, yeah, for sure, And you know everybody's career turns
out different. Mine has been one that I've had to
show a lot of perseverance and grinding to get better
on and off the track, and as many ways as
possible to just stick around and get one more chance.
And I found myself in the best opportunity I've ever
been with at College Racing, a place that I feel
so loved and accepted. They've shown confidence in me, which
(04:32):
is in turn turned into real confidence inside the race car.
And you know, we're not where we want to be,
you know, like we're celebrating because we finished twentieth to
get to the next round, but you know, we see
the future in front of us. The recipe for success
is there and getting better. We have speed in a
race car, so it's about capitalizing on it and continuing
this run as a group.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I want to tie it into Collige Racing and talk
more about this season specific in a minute. But your
career time, I mean, did you think at this point
it would be different? I mean, I think you've mentioned
that a little bit of kind of like the way
you were coming up the ranks, you probably envisioned at
this point that your career would have taken a different trajectory.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, for sure. You know, you know you had this
vision when I came through Exfinity of like what is
going to look like? I was a race for RCR
with a bunch of races and stay on that same path,
And it just didn't work out that way. And I
wouldn't change the way my careers worked out from all
the different highs and lows I had gone through in and
out of the sport, because it's made me who I
am now. It's given me just a heartful gratitude and
(05:32):
appreciation for the opportunities that have gotten like being here
at Color Racing. And I wouldn't have seen it like
this probably if it would have just been all easy.
And so I'm grateful for the journey I've been on
and believing that the best is still yet to come.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
When you say you wouldn't change it, that's interesting because
I'm curious what type of person or mindset does it
take to continue to stay at it and continue to fight.
I'm sure there's been plenty of mental battles along the way.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Yeah, just resilience, And like, I don't think that's something
you know, you're born resilient somewhat, but unless you walk
through the fire and continue to push forward day after
day through hard things. It doesn't have to be racing.
Everybody goes through hard things in life and it's unavoidable.
But I just feel like one of the biggest qualities
is to keep putting one step in front of the other,
(06:20):
especially if you have dreams and aspirations that you're going
for and to be able to live that out. Like
through my career, it's made me stronger as a husband
and a father and as a friend two people, and
it's just made me more well rounded as a human being.
And you know, then when you have little things that
come up and you know you have this micro scale
of perspective life of being resilient has paid off, and
(06:43):
then you get into a race when it's a micro
I don't know if I said macro first, but macro
when it pays off, and then you get into a
race in a micro situation and it's like, Okay, I
feel down or I'm behind the forty two here at Dover,
but I know, don't give up and just keep fighting
hard and it can work out, just like other things
in life. So it just builds confidence to continued growth
(07:04):
as a person. And you know, God has a way
of putting you on a path in life that might
not always look like what you projected, but He's got
a reason behind it, and it might take longer than
you expected to realize the fruits of it. And I
feel like some of this that's going on now is
some of the fruit, and I hope there's a lot
more to come from that in future.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Is that an interesting dynamic you never would have thought,
which is what you go through and the career that
you have as a race car driver is also going
to shape you as a person.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, certainly. I think that's one of those things that
people like to say when you're going through hard things,
is like, this is going to make you better in
the future. But it really does. But it only does
if you take a real good kind of step back
and look at yourself and say, how can I grow
from this? How can I not point fingers at other
for the hard situation I'm in or blame it on
outside perspective, but how can I be better for the
(07:53):
next time I go through something like this in life
and then believing that there is going to be a
next time where you're going to have a chance to excel.
So I'm very, very proud of the way that everything's
kind of turned out in that and like I said,
I wouldn't change that kind of perspective for anything.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
How many times do you get asked why you don't
drive for OURCR?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I get asked quite a bit, you know, Honestly, I
fully don't know the question, and I don't know if
anybody RCR really knows, or my grandfather fully knows. It's
so many things have to come together to put opportunities
in line. And you know, in full transparency, my grandfather's
not a team owner that owns, you know, most of
the car dealerships in the country that Chevrolet owns, or
(08:34):
he's not the owner that owns Indianapolis and Indy Car,
doesn't have any outside business that's funding his race team.
So it's fully reliant on sponsors and money coming together,
and that has to line up in perfect timing, and
it just never has over at RCR, and we've wanted
to make it work. I've certainly wanted to make it
work in the past and just hasn't. And it's one
(08:55):
of those things like I talk about, it's like you
can't get caught up in point fingers and blaming things
for not working out. I know this should have been
something that I'd done or I wish and I could
ruin my career that way. It was always just Okay, well,
where is the next opportunity. I'm going to keep fighting
for my dream. This is what I want, So where's
the next opportunity. Where's the next chance I can get
to try to prove it. It might not be at
equal equipment, but it's going to give me a chance
(09:16):
to be out there and learn some more and get
a little bit better and find things that I can
improve on. So that's kind of been a story for me.
I don't ever blame or point fingers at why it
hasn't worked at RCR. It just hasn't. But I don't
think it was supposed to at this point.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
So from the outside looking in, One more thing on
this part of it is it seems like tie. It's
kind of ebbed and flowed in terms of You've had
your opportunities, but you've been tied to RCR. But you
then made it known you wanted to do your own thing,
but now it seems like you're really kind of more
back in the fold with the family stuff and maybe
the business side of things. Is that a correct kind
of from the outside looking in of how this is unfolded.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Yeah, I think there's a narrative that, like, I wanted
to go do my own thing at times, but it
was just because there was an opportunity at RCR, so
I had to fight find a way to survive and
provide for my family. It's not like my grandfather's cutting
me a personal check to live off of so and
that's not the way he would want to you know.
He really wants my brother and I to go out
and earn everything that we have, and so, you know,
(10:15):
I don't really like the narrative of that I left.
It's just that I had to go and kind of
find my way. And We've gone through seasons of life
as any families have, as far as where we've been,
as far as our relationship, and closer at some times
than others. But now as we get older and you know,
we're in a great part of our career and having success.
But my brother and I certainly have a lot of
(10:37):
aspirations of being a part of our cr in the future.
And my grandfather has been tightly close to everything that's
going on in my career and doing what he can
to help make things better for situations to play out.
So it hasn't been all on my own the things
that I've done, and he's obviously helped me in some ways.
But you know, it's just the ebbs and flows of
(10:58):
a racing career and a life as far as humans,
that you kind of go and you come back sometimes,
and I think it makes us all better for it.
And yeah, you know, I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
Hopefully I have a long racing career, but I think
my brother and I are really excited for what the
future could hold for him and I and my grandfather
as far as businesses in the future too.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
All Right, So let's circle it back to Calleague Racing
and this opportunity. Let's remind folks tie of kind of
how this all came together with Chris Rice and Matt
Calling and kind of what you expected going into it,
and here we are now in July, and how kind
of how it's playing out.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
Yeah, it started last year with five races they had,
I think five races open, and we had some sponsorship
money to run some races in Cup, one of those
being Sea Best, and you know, I think at the
time it was kind of like, all right, we'll put
him in and see what this guy can do. I
was running trucks and we weren't running very good at
the time, so I think the confidence was maybe low,
but they never showed that here, and when I showed up,
(11:58):
I felt so accepted the time I walked into colleg
Racing from every person starting with Chris, Rice, Matt colleague,
and every man and woman that's here in this shop,
like they made me feel cared about and believed in
from that first race, and that confidence hasn't stopped. And
Chris has challenged me to get better, the race teams
challenged me to get better, and I've challenged them to
keep pushing me to get better. And then we're also
(12:21):
just growing as a team and making things better weekend
and week out. Like I've said it quite a few times,
I really feel like we're only at twenty five percent
of the potential where we want to be and where
we probably see ourselves going. And that's exciting, especially for
the way that we've been running and the attention we're getting.
So we're here to make waves and we're going to
continue to get better.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
All right. A couple things from that When you say,
obviously confidence has been a big thing, and I've heard
you say that repeatedly, in what ways has that really
rubbed off on you? Kind of the way that Matt
and Chris and even your crew chief Andrew has just
interacted with you or the things they've said to you.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Just consistent communication where almost every other team might've been at,
like there's this lull and communication after races and before
races of like, what's our goal? What do we see?
You know? Where we at? Where are you at with me?
What are your expectations of me? What's your expectations of
our team? Like that is a constant communication here, and
that's a constant you know, adjusted bar each week is
(13:18):
whether we do good or we do bad. And I
think that's what is appreciated the most, and it never
comes across as negativity or browbeating. It's more just like, hey,
this is what we thought we were going to do,
this is what we want to do, this is where
we need to be hey, this is something you needed
to work on so that we can be at this level.
I mean earlier this year, we really had a legit
shot to probably win at Phoenix and nice sped on
(13:39):
Pitt Road and Chris called me his office and he's like,
all right, I'm penalizing you. You're I'm gonna knock your
pit road speed down for the next five races and
if you speed again, I'm gonna knock it down more,
and like you're going to be the slowest one on
Pitt Road until you get that right. And we literally
went through that exercise and I didn't speed for the
longest time up until I think two weeks ago, and
(14:00):
so no I got my first speeding family since then
because they had opened me back up. So that was
the first thing it said to Chris. Even after we
knocked Alex. I was like, dude, I know you're gonna
be mad at me. You're gonna penalize my pit road speed.
But just little things like that, it's just communication. Because
he gives me goals I can go out there and
achieve them. Then it gives him confidence in me, and
then we reset and then I get confidence in myself
and there was a point early in the race. We
(14:23):
had gotten into a little bit of trouble, like in
the first third of races early in the season, and
Chris came to me and was like, Hey, we're gonna
race these one third at a time. Once the first
third of the race, just survive, don't get left. Second third,
we're gonna improve, and then the last bit, I want
you to go all out. And I started putting that
into play and we've improved on that too. So just
I think being able to communicate like that, like not
(14:45):
feeling like he's coming at me in a negative way.
Andrew does things like that with me too, where he
communicates in such a positive way. I know they believe
in me, and then when I can go out there
and achieve the goals they give me, it gives me
that confidence too, and we just kind of keep parlaying
off that and growing the momentum.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
So Andrew is interesting because you did a midweek media
availability with us, you know, a week or two ago,
and you talked a lot about Andrew. So I tuned
in a little bit more at Dover to kind of
just listen to him and see how it was going.
And you can definitely tell that when he comes over
the radio, he's very much I'm gonna pump my driver up.
We're in this and he was talking about I need
like a Ti Dylan restart here at the end. I mean, obviously,
(15:25):
crew chief and driver are so important in this sport.
We've seen that over the years with many different pairings.
What is it about him and you and him Ty
that just has clicked and this has clearly worked.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
He I think one of the most surprising things about
Andrew is like he has this overwhelming positivity when he's
calling the race, and he's always believing in the best,
which is the kind of person that I am. And
sometimes whatever reason in the race car, like you're fighting
so many negativities sometimes when you're not winning, and as
a driver it's easy to get frustrated with the heat
(15:57):
and everything going on, and he is like really entlessly
positive that we're going to make the most of every moment.
And that's the kind of person I like to be.
And so having that as like a just a backup,
like keeping me going has been so cool. And and
he's so passionate in a positive way. That's that's what's cool.
It's never comes across negative. He just wants our team
to be the best everything we do. We don't talk
(16:20):
very negative about our team ever. Now we might talk
negative about other teams, but not ours for sure, and
we protect that and we care about that, and we
care about the words that are said to make our
days the best. And so he's been a lot of
fun which is funny because I think he was struggling
with in the off season, like did he feel like
he was enough of a leader to be a crew chief?
(16:40):
And the only thing I told him this off Seane
was like, hey man, you who you are is enough.
Like I heard it in the last couple of races
on the radio when I wasn't even we didn't even
work together last year, but he filled in for some
of the races that I wasn't in in the sixteen
and you can just tell like that leadership was shining through.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
Then.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I'm like, just be you, and our whole team will
follow that attitude, And certainly, I think there's not a
team that has more belief in each other than ours
out there right now, and we're starting to see some
fruits of that.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
All right, So you were talking about the pit road
example of your speeding and backing you down. It's funny
you say that, because I keep track every week myself
of just in my notes of who has what speeding penalties,
and I kind of tally them throughout the year. And
it is funny you say that, because when I was
putting that in there after Sonoma, I'm like, wow, he
really hasn't had yeah many of this year. So with
an example like that, are there other ways tie you
(17:33):
can explain as you were saying about on the flip side,
when they need to push you to be better, what
are some of the ways in which they've done that.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah, you know, I think we had some conversations about
restarts early early in the year and then making moves
as far as clearing myself and blocking. Andrew brought myself
and our spot are in and he presented some tape
from other people, like how can we do this better?
And we just had open conversation about little verbiages that
(18:02):
we can make a little more efficient, to block better,
to make moves happen quicker, and just little things and
having conversation because sometimes it helps to hear from your
crew chief of like hey, if you're putting your car
in this situation, or if you're driving your car this way,
it's gonna make you feel more confident, or it's gonna
feel better if you put it in this spot. So
it's been a constant dialogue like here's our problem, and
(18:25):
then as a team we come together and say, how
do we put a lot of different ideas in together
to create the solution? And then I can go out
there and try to execute those things or learn and
then if I can't, then I come back and say, hey,
I can't drive the car that way. We need to
do something. So those are just little things that with
a constant communication where nobody feels like somebody's coming across
(18:46):
with a bad agenda, Like that's where I think it
gets caught up at a lot of places and other
places that've been is like sometimes that information can come
in from a negative angle where it feels like there's
an agenda behind it. To undermind you here, it always
comes in with a real clear like this is what
it is. We're gonna do it for the good of
our team. We all believe that you're doing the best,
and it comes in from such a clear heart that
(19:07):
it makes it so much easier to go out and
achieve you're not thinking about, you know what's being said
behind you.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
So is this season what it looks like for Tide
Dylan to have fun and racing again, because it seems
like you're do you talk about confidence and attitude, it
just seems like you're different and more comfortable this year.
It's fun. The word it seems is back.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Yeah, it's not a manufactured happiness that I'm having to
build each week between weeks just to get to the racetrack.
And I've genuinely left the last three weeks or four
weeks with just the biggest smile, kind of floating on
clouds because it has just been fun and it's not
like we're lighting in the world on fire with our results.
We're having some good ones. I think our average finished
is probably around sixteenth. But I've been so happy because
(19:51):
we're having something to celebrate. We're having something to high
five about after race, and when you've done it as
long as I have, and you've ran so many races,
and I've certainly had stretches of races where I've probably
had a higher average finish, but we didn't have anything
to celebrate, and there wasn't joy from the leaders above us.
To say that, you know, this is good, Like, let's
(20:12):
just live in the moment that we're having some good
runs here and that's been fun. It's not just me
having fun, Chris Rice having fun. Matt Collig we were
sitting there in the front of Schreurch at Dover and
he's like, hey, this is fun and I was like, yeah,
it is. And just to hear your owners say that
is like so relieving to know that he's having fun
on our team's behalf and he puts so much into it.
(20:33):
So those are things you live for in this sport,
and most people don't ever feel that unless they're winning.
But you got to kind of stop and take in
the good moments along the way.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
That's interesting you say that because I wanted to go
in that direction for a minute, because I think it's
easy for fans and for outsiders. You turn on the
TV you watch racing every week and it's like, well,
it's about winning, right, It's about championships and the drivers
who run up front, and you know, if people can't
do that, why even show up? But I feel like
you all and it's not just you, but this is
a perfect example of there is so much more to
(21:08):
racing and what people and teams are racing for if
you're not one of those top five teams.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
Yeah, for sure. I think this has probably been the
biggest win in my opinion from the N Season Tournament
is like there's such stories to tell. I always look
back at the F One, the first documentary that came
out on Netflix, Like they didn't follow the top teams,
like they didn't sign up for the program, but they
followed teams from fifth to tenth in points or whatever,
(21:34):
and that was the biggest year they had because there
was a storyline that was important there. And there's the
underdog story of the teams that don't have all the
money as the Ferraris and Mercedes and the Red Bulls
that are out here doing great work and they're they're
running good races well or finally, like we've done Netflix documentaries,
but we haven't really showcased the right part of what
I think is going to grow the depth of our sport.
(21:56):
This N Season Tournament by having stance, and I think
just by our team personally, I think we're probably the
direct beneficiary by being a thirty two seed has shown
people like, hey, there's underdog stories every week and it's
just there's just a moniker beside it. There's a bracket
and challenge and just a little bit of light on
it that has I mean, the amount of attention that
(22:17):
our team has gotten from this and we haven't really
even sniffed close to a win, But I think even
NASCAR couldn't stand back and say this hasn't been one
of the biggest wins they've had in a long time
as far as coverage and people being excited about our sports.
So it's been a cool thing. I think we got
to remember and keep refreshing ways to tell stories throughout
the season of the guys who are doing a lot
(22:38):
with maybe a little less, Like we're not a key
partner team, and I don't think the average fan understands
the difference in that, Like how much harder it is
for a team like ours that doesn't get the direct
info from Chevrolet or whatever manufacturer may be to go
out and beat the twenty five teams that are direct
key partner teams. And this whole year, like we have
(23:00):
knocked off at least two to three of those teams
that are getting a lot more information and a lot
more behind them every single weekend and this end season
tournament has shown some of that, and the timing's worked
out nice where it's been the right ones that we've beaten.
So there's a lot that a lot of storytelling that
is open still and we're just one part of that
and lucky that we're getting ready to show. We're allowed
(23:23):
to show our personality in this because of it. So
it's been cool.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
The drive to survive analogy is perfect because that's basically
what I meant, which is, yes, not every team can
be a race winning team, but there's so much more
that people are racing for that a top twenty is
a win for them, And again I think that's hard
for folks sometimes understand. But again, not every team can
be a winning team. You have to know what you're
(23:47):
racing for. So when you're talking about, you know your
average finish, you guys, twentieth at Dover, that is a celebration, right,
So those are the big days, I think, right, top
twenties for you.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Guys, Yeah, yeah, we want to be inside that top twenty. Obviously,
nobody straps in or nobody in the sport goes to
a racetrack not wanting to win, like that's of course
our goal every week, but we also have to have
some realistic goals of like, hey, we need to be happy,
and we need to be able to celebrate days where
we finished in the top fifteen. You know, I think
for our team now, it was like, first half the season,
(24:18):
top twenties are good. Second half the season, let's lower
that to around top fifteens, and when you get to
the top fifteen and into that top ten average finish
and you're running around that spot, the wins are right there.
Like so much stuff happens at the end of the race.
So we have to be able to celebrate along the
way so that we can realize as a team that
we're building momentum. If that doesn't ever get talked about
and we're just kind of clicking along the way, we're
(24:40):
not celebrating wins, you don't build momentum. So I mean literally,
Chris was just out here talking about He's like, it's
weird to be happy about a twentieth place, but we
deserve to be because of where we've come from the
narrative around our whole team and situation before this year.
But look at where we are now, and you know,
I just the smiles and you can feel the confidence
every person here at college, like we're freaking pumped to
(25:03):
go to Indy, and not only that, we're pumped for
the rest of the season too.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
You not running the full year last year. I think
I had asked you this a couple of weeks ago,
but I want to get it here on the record
for other fans to hear. What has it been like
for you tie behind the wheel kind of just reacclimating
to these race cars, and maybe what are some of
the biggest things you've been trying to learn or do
behind the wheel this year.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
I think the hardest part is it's been two years
since I've been to a lot of these racetracks in
a cup car, and then some of these tracks I
really haven't been to even more recent than that, because
we've gone they did some new things like Iowa coming up.
It's been a long time since I've been to Ioa.
It's one of my favorite tracks, but I've never been
around in a cup car, and everybody's got a year
of experience and a lot of practice last year from
(25:45):
doing it. So that's been the harder part. Is Like
I'm doing the sim sessions, I fill up the speed
at some of these places pretty quick, but that's on
the simulator and then you got to go out for
fifteen minutes, twenty minutes and build that up. So qualifying
so important to take that leap, and we don't have
much time. I haven't had much time to work myself
(26:05):
into where my speed is. It has to be there,
So that's been kind of the hardest part is like
we've been a little bit of a step behind in practice.
I think probably just because a little bit of rush
for me not being at these tracks for two whole years,
mainly in a Cup car, and I look forward to
going back to some of these places for a second
time and just kind of getting that caught up. And
I'd say the first eight to ten races there were
(26:26):
still things that I was a little rusty on, just
on racecraft in the Cup series, to where now I
feel very confident and now I'm on the other side
of it and I feel like I'm I'm moving ahead
pretty so.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
When it comes to the race car. When this car,
now the Gen seven car, first came out, a lot
of you drivers talked about how much time it took
to adapt to the car and how even after the
first year or two, there were still things to learn
about the car. Are we at the point now tie
where you feel comfortable with knowing this race car or
(26:58):
is it still evolving from to week and year to year.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
I think most of us feel pretty comfortable like and
for me, I feel probably like late us to the
party because I didn't run last year. But I now
feel very comfortable, like, Okay, I know the places I
can put the car and know the reaction of the car.
I know what's too far and I know what's not
not far enough. And it's taken to the last probably
two or three weeks, where I felt very confident in
(27:22):
knowing those things. So but I'm pretty sure all the
other guys have been knowing that for at least a
year or so. So I feel like it's you know,
it's gotten to a place where most everybody understands this
car really well and there's not much of an advantage
of the newness of the race car and who can
adapt quicker?
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Right? All right, A couple more things for you as
we look ahead to Indianapolis. As a driver, take us
for a lap around India in a cup car. Kind
of the characteristics of how you approach the lap what
it's going to feel like, and maybe just your expectations
for this race.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, for sure, any one of my favorite racetracks have
had success there in the past. For me, it's all
about making turns two and turn four just part of
that long straightaway, like doing everything I can to leave
those corners full throttle as possible and just trying to
extend them as a straightaway. But you also can't lose
too much time and turn one and three getting yourself
to two and four, So that's your balance. I think
(28:15):
I pay a lot of attention and how I'm leaving
turns one and three to set up two and four.
They kind of work in opposites, so you know, once
you kind of get in the rhythm there, if you
have a car that can achieve a great exit grip
off those corners, you're gonna have a solid day. So
it's a tough one to pass at. I do feel
like it's a lot better with the next gen car,
(28:36):
so it's gonna be a fun one. There's nothing cooler
than driving down the front stretch seeing those grand stands
like just narrow in and it feels like by the
time you get to turn one, it's like the smallest
little corner and then you got the Pagoda sitting out
there to the left. It's just the history that you know,
so many people have seen that view that have been
champions and all kinds of motorsport have been down through there.
(28:56):
So I always get chills. I always get excited for
Indy and looking forward to getting there.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
You said that you feel like it's better. This race
is better with the next gen car. Can you expand
on that? What have you felt driving the other cars
to this one?
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, the other cars relied so much on side force.
The next gen car has so much downforce underneath the car.
So at a one lane typically kind of a one
lane track is what India is. If you get to
the inside of somebody, all they have to do is
kind of pull down on your door and it's impossible
to pass and they get you freed up. Well, the
next gen car, if you pull down on somebody's door,
(29:32):
doesn't really loosen them up too much. It doesn't really
have too much of effects, so you can run side
by side a lot more confident. So I think that
allows the top to kind of open up is more
of an option for people, and then you're not as
timid to pass people on the bottom, especially carrying the
speed that we do around there. So yeah, I think
that's just what's made it a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
So once we put Indy in the rear view mirror,
there's still plenty of racing to go. So let me
end with this kind of preview tie or what your
expectations are for this race team as you now close
out then the rest of the year, seeing what you've
already built and kind of where you hope or think
you all will be by the time we get to
and wrap up Phoenix.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Yeah, I hope we in somewhere with just our average
finish from the rest of the season, somewhere in the teens.
I think that would be another solid progression for our
race team. Staying inside the top twenty weekend, and we
got to feel like we've kind of showed that our
speed raw speed sits around twentieth in the race is
where we usually ending up. So I think if we
execute weekend and week out and we gain a little
bit more speed, we're gonna be running side the teams
(30:30):
and then that's gonna put us just in a really
good spot to finish out. This year is strong and
just out executing people like even no matter what happens
with this end season challenge, just not losing the momentum
from that and just keep plugging along and keeping our
tough mentality and just beating people all the way down
the stretch.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
All right, Well, I always enjoy talking to you. It's
been the summer of Tie, the Tournament of Tie, and
see how it goes at Indianapolis. But it's cool to
kind of see just overall, as we talked about just
the sixth sest story, I think this has been for
you and a team like this, so appreciate it as always,
and go lucky this.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Weekend a hill right. Thank you, of course.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
My appreciation once again to Tie for coming on the podcast.
I really do enjoy talking to him. I've always found
him to be very insightful and very honest, and he's
had a career that has made it interesting to listen
to him. So I do appreciate that. So thank you
Ty for coming on the podcast. Thanks for squeezing in
time for the podcast, because as I said, he has
been all over the place recently. There's been midweek media availabilities,
(31:38):
serious XM call ins. Of course, the obligations at the Racetrack,
TV interviews, social media engagement. He has been all over
the place, so appreciate the time. I also appreciate Alisha
Dial for coordinating, of course, and getting this on our calendars.
If you enjoyed the conversation, please leave a rating and review.
You can also go to social media and let me
(31:58):
know what you think. My handle on x as well
as across many platforms is at Kelly crandle X, Facebook, Instagram,
linked in, TikTok. I am quite probably in every single place,
so I do appreciate the feedback. Thank you for clicking
and listening and downloading every week. The support is greatly appreciated.
(32:19):
I also want to remind you that NASCAR Race They Eats,
the Official Cookbook of NASCAR, is available for pre order
now or you can get it wherever books are sold
when it comes out in late October. So that is
all for this week. Once again, thank you for clicking, listening, downloading,
and I will see you again real soon on the
Racing Writers Podcast
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