Cinderella Story: Last-seed Ty Dillon sneaks way into NASCAR bracket challenge finals, racing for $1M

The Cinderella story continues. Ty Dillon entered the NASCAR In-Season Challenge as the lowest-seeded driver at No. 32. He’s survived all the way to the finale for a chance at $1 million next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He’s left a slew of veteran wheelmen behind. Dillon has defeated Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and John Hunter Nemechek on his way to the final round. Now, the No. 32-seed will have one final test. Ty Gibbs is standing in the way of a gigantic upset during Year 1 of the In-Season Challenge.

“It feels good,” Dillon said, regarding reaching the finals, via NBC Sports. “You know, I have been the underdog for a long time now, just battling my way to try to get opportunity. Eventually you get comfortable in fighting from behind and people underestimating you. 

“It’s hard to say that we lucked into it this far in. I am proud of the way we have run. We haven’t been a dominating car, but we have been a pain to everyone around us. That is all we can do — put pressure on them and execute at the right time and that is what we have done.”

While he’s not setting the world on fire — Dillon finished P20 at Dover, one spot ahead of Nemechek — it’s been a story fans have rallied behind. The veteran wheelman has had an uneven NASCAR career, but winning the In-Season Challenge could change everything for him.

Will Ty Dillon finish the job in Indianapolis?

It’s been a fun story for fans and media members to follow. Fellow drivers aren’t exactly impressed with Dillon’s run though. Veterans like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick have taken some shots at the Kaulig Racing driver over the past couple of weeks, believing that Dillon has been lucky throughout to this run.

“Is he in the finals? You know what that tells me though … Had I got past Atlanta how easy was my trip going to be to the finals? Where’d he finish? 20th?!” Hamlin stated, regarding Dillon’s finish at Dover this Sunday. “Listen, I’m rooting for him personally, especially as the worst seed, right? But I think at Indy, he’s gonna need some help.”

Additionally, Hamlin proclaimed he’ll be rooting for Gibbs to defeat Dillon, but that’s to be expected. The duo are teammates after all. Still, it’s giving off a bit of hater energy for the Welcome, North Carolina native.

Ironically enough, Indianapolis is one of Ty Dillon’s better tracks in the Cup Series, so there’s a real shot he could end up as the winner of the inaugural NASCAR In-Season Challenge. Time will tell if he can best Ty Gibbs, but he’ll certainly have the lion share of fans behind him in Indiana next weekend.