RELATED: Practice 1 results | Practice 2 results
CONCORD, N.C. — Ty Dillon finds himself in an unexpected position this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, outside the cutline for advancement in the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase.
He isn’t alone. Erik Jones, winner of four races heading into the Chase, sits below the eight-team cutoff as well.
Four teams will see their hopes of a championship end here this weekend when the 1.5-mile track hosts the Drive for the Cure 300.
Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, sits ninth in points and trails eighth-place Brennan Poole by three (2,057-2,054). Jones (Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota) is 10th, four behind Poole.
Dillon finished second last week at Dover after a crash at Kentucky in the Chase opener left him 27th in the rundown. But he said Thursday at CMS that he can’t avoid the obvious — he needs a strong finish this weekend to survive and move on to the Round of 8.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I hadn’t been thinking about it,” Dillon, 24, said. “To win a championship would mean the world to me; it’s what I want to do.
“Being on the outside and coming into a cutoff race you’re obviously thinking about it and thinking about the situation. But I’ve been able to distract myself.”
Family matters have helped deflect any attention — Dillon’s wife, Haley, competed in Thursday’s Better Half Dash charity race and “I’ve been over here practicing with her,” he said.
MORE: Better Half Dash results
Relatives from out of town have come in for the race, “so we have four little nephews that are here so we get to hang out with them. It’s been fun, keeping my mind off of this,” he said.
“Hopefully we leave here Friday and we’re all happy and we’re going to the next round.”
Dillon’s record at Charlotte is solid, with four top-10 finishes in five starts. He finished eighth here in May. On Thursday, his WESCO Chevrolet was second-fastest in the opening round of practice and eighth overall in the final shakedown.
Jones finished second here last fall, but a crash in the May race earlier this year left him 31st. He won at Chicagoland, the last race before the Chase got underway, but was involved in the same crash with Dillon at Kentucky, leaving him 28th. He took 16th place at last week’s Dover.
“We have a good team,” Jones said earlier. “We just have to do it right.
“I know this 20 team builds fast cars and I know this weekend at Charlotte will be no different. We just need to go out and execute and hopefully get into the next round.”
There’s pressure, he admitted, “but I think we can do it.”
Jones was quick on the track Thursday as well, third and second in the two sessions.
JGR teammate Daniel Suarez leads the points, and scored his second win of the year last weekend at Dover. JR Motorsports teammates Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier are second and third, respectively.
Brendan Gaughan (Richard Childress Racing), Ryan Reed (Roush Fenway Racing), Darrell Wallace (RFR), Blake Koch (Kaulig Racing) and Poole (Chip Ganassi Racing) complete the top eight.
Trailing Dillon and Jones on the outside are Ryan Sieg (RSS Racing) and Brandon Jones (RCR).