Ty Dillon: Kaulig Racing 'Best Opportunity I Will Have Had in My Cup Career'
After spending the last five seasons bouncing from organization to organization, Ty Dillon is headed back to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2025. The Lewisville, North Carolina-native will join Kaulig Racing, to drive the team’s No. 10 Chevrolet.
The 32-year-old driver has been in and around NASCAR’s premier division for quite some time now, making his series debut in 2014, and getting his first full-time opportunity with Germain Racing in 2017.
In the last four years, as Dillon has attempted to find his footing post-Germain’s closure, various NASCAR Cup Series teams have come knocking, including Gaunt Brothers Racing, Petty GMS Motorsports, Spire Motorsports, and Kaulig Racing.
Dillon got behind the wheel of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet in five NASCAR Cup Series events last season, recording three finishes of 21st-place or better, including a season-best 16th at Texas Motor Speedway in April.
“It started last year, we had talked about doing races and ended up running [five races] with Kaulig Racing last year, and for me it was one of my last opportunities to go out and prove myself in the Cup Series,” Dillon told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday. “It was a wonderful experience, the whole team at Kaulig really gave me the best opportunity, they all worked so hard and gave me great cars to go out and run better, run good, and I think we just did things that proved that there is something there with us, and myself and the team working together.”
Several solid results and some decent chemistry between the driver and the organization ultimately led Dillon back to a full-time opportunity in the NASCAR Cup Series, where he’ll drive alongside AJ Allmendinger.
“I wanted to be with Kaulig [Racing], they have such a passion for winning and doing things right in the sport, and for me, without a doubt, to work with this team again is the best opportunity I will have had in my Cup [Series] career. I’ve had some great experiences at other places, but this is the first time I am stepping into a Cup team that has actually won races prior to me being there, have competed for championships, so this is the highest quality of program that I have been a part of.”
“I think this is my best opportunity I’ve had, I feel like I’m stronger and wiser and better than I have ever been in my career, and I think teaming up with Andrew Dickeson and the whole Kaulig Racing team, the men and woman all throughout, I’ve just felt so comfortable already, which has been great and we have some great off-season momentum, working on bringing some brands together that we’re really excited about to be part of our race team.”
For the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, Dillon will have Andrew Dickeson as crew chief. It’s the first full-time crew chief gig for Dickeson, who spent several years working as a race engineer for Richard Childress Racing.
“I’ve known Andrew [Dickeson] for a long time. He came over from Australia from the V8 Supercars world, back in the day, was super successful over there. He was my engineer in Xfinity for a year, that was one of my most successful years.”
“As we were making decisions on working with [Kaulig Racing] and what we were going to do for a crew chief, Andrew just kept showing up and filling in on the No. 16, and they were having outstanding runs. Just listening to him on the radio, just his infectious positivity and belief in the team and himself, and his drive was something you want to be a part of.”
“I was in Phoenix for the last race and hopping on the plane, all the guys were raving about Andrew and I think that’s what you want to be a part of, you want to be a part of working with somebody that everybody believes in, and he has confidence and he just has to be himself, he’s super talented. He knows these race cars and I’m going to be me and do what I’m good at, and as a team, we’re going to excel, we’re going to put our best foot forward every week. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity and like I said, I’m really excited for what’s to come this year.
Kaulig Racing will continue its long-standing technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series for 2024. Being on the same campus in Welcome, North Carolina, the teams have a unique opportunity to streamline its alliance, and bring the best performance out of both organizations.
“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t feel like we’re a four-car team, especially throughout the technical alliance agreement with what we have, and I think some of the lines were a little blurry the last couple of years, and now there’s a strong core of leadership that’s said these cars are going to leave and be on the same page and trying to learn and development, so that when Welcome wins, we all win, and that’s a fun thing to be a part of.”
“I can just add my 10% into it, or 25% into it as the Cup program, but we want to win we want to bring trophies back to Welcome across those train tracks and be proud of what we’ve accomplished together.”
Dillon and Kaulig Racing will begin their 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign at Bowman-Gray Stadium, a home track for the Dillon family, on February 2, with The Clash. Coverage will be on Sunday at 8:00 PM ET on FOX.
