Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: Cindric helps Rolex 24 land sixth-place finish

MOORESVILLE, N.C.  — Coming off a third-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings last season, 19-year-old Austin Cindric will race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) title in 2018, competing in all 33 series events this season with two different winning organizations.

Cindric will open the 2018 season racing the No. 60 PIRTEK Ford Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing at Daytona International Speedway on February 17. As previously announced, Cindric will compete in a total of nine events for Roush Fenway, including four of the first five races on the NXS schedule.

In addition, Cindric will drive either the No. 12 or the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in the remaining 24 races, including the four Dash for Cash events at Bristol, Richmond, Talladega and Dover.

RELATED: Cindric to run No. 60 car with Majeski, Briscoe

“Just the experience of making the final four last season and getting to race for the Truck Series Championship at Homestead for BKR (Brad Keselowski Racing) was truly special for me, but has made me determined to find a way to try and get in that position again,” said Cindric, who will work with three different crew chiefs over the course of this season. “Now to have the opportunity to run for a driver’s championship this year in the Xfinity Series with both Team Penske and Roush Fenway Racing is a dream come true. I know there’s a lot left for me to learn. That being said, it puts the ball in my court because I have such an incredible and unique opportunity in front of me to be surrounded by the experience of two very successful organizations and that is all a driver can ask for. Much like last season, I feel like it may take a little time to adjust, but I’m eager to get started on that journey. I just can’t thank Roger Penske, Jack Roush and everyone with Ford Performance enough for this opportunity.”

Cindric made his NXS debut last season, driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang at Road America. Cindric ran inside the top 10 for much of the race and was in line to compete for the win when his car suffered a cut a tire late in the race and had to make an unscheduled green-flag pit stop. He finished 16th. Cindric has had a busy preseason as he has already raced three different types of cars in three series including two Rallycross Ice races in Sweden and highlighted by a sixth-place overall finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona driving for JDC-Miller Motorsports.

During the events that Cindric will race the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske – the first of which is scheduled to be on February 24 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – he will work with the team’s new crew chief Matt Swiderski.

Swiderski joined Team Penske during the offseason following a successful run with Richard Childress Racing (RCR), where he worked as crew chief of the No. 3 NXS team with drivers Ty Dillon, Scott Lagasse and Brian Scott in 2017. Previously, Swiderski was the head of vehicle performance at RCR for three seasons after also serving as race engineer for RCR teams competing in both the Xfinity Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

“This is a great opportunity to become a part of the winning tradition at Team Penske,” said Swiderski, who also worked for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a private aerospace manufacturer and space transport provider that operated some of the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecrafts, in 2012. “I’m really excited to team up with Austin when he’s behind the wheel of the No. 12 Ford while also working closely with (No. 22 crew chief) Brian Wilson. Our goal is to help the No. 22 team win another series owners’ title while working with Austin as he chases the driver’s championship.”

The NASCAR XFINITY Series season gets underway with the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 17.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of 14 team previews on NASCAR.com. Next up: Wood Brothers Racing on Feb. 9. A list of team previews already published is at the bottom of this story.

Richard Childress Racing

Manufacturer: Chevrolet

Engine: ECR Engines

Drivers Austin Dillon, No. 3; Ryan Newman, No. 31

Crew chiefs: Justin Alexander (Dillon), Luke Lambert (Newman)

2017 standings: Dillon, 11th in final standings (eliminated in Round of 16); Newman, 16th in final standings (eliminated in Round of 16)

What’s new: Richard Childress Racing enters 2018 as a full-time, two-car operation. Paul Menard has moved on to Wood Brothers Racing, and the team elected not to fill his No. 27 Chevrolet full time. RCR finalized a new alliance with Richard Petty Motorsports during the offseason, with the iconic RPM shop relocating to Welcome, North Carolina so the teams can work in tandem. The team also dipped into the past by re-hiring Andy Petree, a championship-winning crew chief with Dale Earnhardt at RCR in 1993 and 1994. Petree, who told NASCAR.com that Childress is “totally committed to winning,” will serve as the organization’s vice president of competition.

What to watch: Both Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman are confident in their respective team’s ability to build off 2017’s playoff runs. Dillon qualified the team’s performance in 2017 as modest gains; now, he’s looking to make a big one. 

Key question(s): How will the team dynamic change in going from three cars to two? Will that move — and the new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 —  allow engineers to find the needed additional speed to compete for wins every week?

DRIVERS

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet: Dillon broke through for his first career win in 2017 — in the Coca-Cola 600, no less – and advanced to the playoffs for the second consecutive year. His finish of 11th in the standings is the best of his career. A surprise in 2017 was Dillon’s sharp dip in top-10 finishes, which went from 13 in 2016 to just four last year — tied for the lowest of his career.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

The new Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 should bring immediate speed to match Dillon’s soaring expectations.

“We got our win (in 2017), and that was huge,” Dillon said. “That was one goal I had last year. I love how we finished the year as far as a consistent team. We were a consistent threat at the end of the year and had consistent finishes. Our goal is the Championship 4 this year.”

Ryan Newman, No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet: Like his teammate Dillon, Newman also found Victory Lane in 2017 following a dry spell. His win at Phoenix in the spring was his first since 2013 (a 127-race span), and the first for Richard Childress Racing since that same season.

It was a special moment in Victory Lane, one that was repeated when Dillon won in Charlotte months later, but ultimately didn’t lead to success in the postseason.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

The veteran’s seven top-five finishes, though, are reason for optimism. It was his highest personal total since 2011.

“From my standpoint, we had the opportunity to take the best of the best people, put them all together,” Newman said of the changes at RCR. “We have a couple small personnel changes on the 31 side, but the core group of guys as far as the crew chief and the race engineers are all the same. And our feather in our cap is the Camaro ZL1, because we feel as a design and development piece it is made to be better than what we had last year.”

PREVIOUS TEAM PREVIEWS

Feb. 1: Front Row Motorsports
Feb. 2: Richard Petty Motorsports
Feb. 3: Leavine Family Racing
Feb. 5: JTG Daugherty Racing
Feb. 6: Germain Racing
Feb. 7: Roush Fenway Racing

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Inside 2018 rules updates | Inspection system debuts

NASCAR competition officials distributed a handful of competition updates Wednesday, most notably regarding the damaged vehicle policy and the national series qualifying format.

The time limit for teams to make repairs will increase from five to six minutes. Furthermore, if a team has too many crew members over the wall while its car is on the crash clock, the team will be assessed a two-lap penalty instead of being parked.

NASCAR officials said those changes were developed from discussions with stakeholders, building on lessons learned from last season to better fit the spirit of the initiative.

Competition officials also reduced the opening round of knockout-style qualifying at intermediate and short tracks from 20 to 15 minutes, offering a tighter window for the field to make initial qualifying attempts.

The news comes on the heels of NASCAR’s competition department setting the stage lengths for races in all three national series. The group also indicated the NASCAR Air Titan track-drying system will have a revised look in 2018, with a red-and-white scheme replacing the silver-and-green livery.

MORE: Stage lengths for 2018 set

Posted on by Team Release

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) team owner Shigeaki Hattori announced Wednesday that the organization has tabbed Brett Moffitt to drive the No. 16 AISIN Group Toyota Tundra.

Moffitt will take the reins of the No. 16 entry to begin the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

The Grimes, Iowa, native has an extensive and successful history with HRE and crew chief Scott Zipadelli.

From 2012-2013, the NASCAR Next alumnus competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) with HRE and earned top-three finishes in the championship standings in both seasons and posted two victories.

Some of Moffitt’s career highlights have come with Zipadelli on the pit box. The duo worked together for six races in 2016 at Red Horse Racing and laid down an impressive record. During that span, Moffitt scored his first-career NCWTS victory at Michigan International Speedway on a spectacular last-lap pass and tallied three top-five and four top-10 finishes overall. In 13 career NCWTS starts, Moffitt has totaled one victory, three top-five and six top-10 finishes.

“This is an awesome opportunity for me to reunite with Shige Hattori and get back into a position to win races”, Moffitt said. “I’m excited about the opportunity to work with so many familiar faces. I believe the people in place at HRE are the right group for us to find a lot of success.

“Working with Zippy (Scott Zipadelli) again makes this opportunity even better. We had a great stretch together a couple years ago, especially winning at Michigan. Hopefully we can do that again, because Zippy, Shige, and everyone at HRE have built an impressive program over the last two years.”

After a successful 2017 campaign, Hattori is energized to reunite with Moffitt and continue to develop the organization’s performance in 2018.

“I am so glad to have Brett back with us at HRE,” Hattori said. “We enjoyed working together several years ago and he has made the most of every opportunity he’s had in this sport over the last few years, especially in the NCWTS. He’s proven he can win races and is deserving of the opportunity.

“It’s great to have AISIN Group’s continued support of our team and to have them reunited with Brett. We’re very proud of the program we have built with Scott (Zipadelli) and the entire team, and we’re looking forward to having Brett behind the wheel and elevating our performance even further this season.”

Posted on by Steve Luvender

RELATED: Join @nascarcasm’s Fantasy Live league

“I totally called that Championship 4 before the season began!”

“I knew he’d win the Cup this year!”

“This is the year. I’ve been saying it since February.”

You’ve probably heard claims like this each November when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is crowned — your friends boldly declaring they totally called who’d make the Championship 4 at the end of the year. They knew it all along. Uh-huh, sure.

See, there’s no accountability when it comes to claims and predictions like this. There’s nothing stopping someone from pretending they’re the NASCAR oracle once the checkered flag flies in Miami, predicting what would unfold before the cars ever hit the track in February.

This year, we’ve changed that.

Using the marvels of technology (well, Twitter), we’ve tasked NASCAR fans with providing some public accountability: tweeting their Championship 4 predictions before the season begins. This way, there’s a digital paper trail when somebody claims, “I predicted this back at Daytona.”

NASCAR Twitter took advantage of the opportunity to make some guesses.

There were certainly some themes in the early predictions. For instance, shockingly few twitizens felt 2017 champ Martin Truex Jr. would repeat in 2018 — or even make the Championship 4, for that matter. Favorites seemed to include Jimmie Johnson (a safe bet, historically speaking), Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney. (Youth movement, anyone?)

One prediction in particular seemed a little weighted toward one team, but maybe there’s some bias there.

And, of course, Twitter managed to do what Twitter does best: totally derail the predictions.

We probably should have seen this coming.

We’ll unearth this time capsule of Twitter predictions during the week of the championship race in November and see who’s the true NASCAR prophet — and, more importantly, publicly shame everybody who totally missed the mark.

If you think you can predict what’ll happen in 2018, head to Twitter and reply to the Championship 4 prediction Tweet with your picks.

Posted on by Official NASCAR Release

BUY TICKETS: See the 2018 action!

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 7, 2018) — NASCAR today announced the 2018 stage lengths for its three national series, looking to build on last season’s successful debut of the race format.

In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, all 2018 stage lengths will remain consistent with 2017. The race and stage lengths for the Charlotte road course race in the NASCAR Playoffs will be announced at a later date.

Following feedback from NASCAR Xfinity Series race teams, there will be slight updates to the stage lengths at both ISM Raceway in Phoenix and Dover International Speedway. At both Phoenix races, the stages will end at Lap 45, Lap 90 and Lap 200. For the Dover events, the stages will end at Lap 45, Lap 90 and Lap 200.

NEWS: Monster Energy Series | Xfinity Series | Camping World Truck Series

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, both Las Vegas Motor Speedway races are scheduled for 134 laps, with stage lengths set to end at Lap 40, Lap 80 and Lap 134.

“Our primary goal every season is providing the best race for our fans, and to that end, we will remain consistent in terms of stage lengths for the majority of our national series events,” said Scott Miller, NASCAR senior vice president of competition. “Last year’s debut of the race format was a strong one, and we look forward to building on that foundation in 2018, starting with Speedweeks at Daytona.”

(*)–indicates race is a playoff race

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
RACE STAGE 1 STAGE 2 FINAL STAGE
Daytona 60 120 200
Atlanta 85 170 325
Las Vegas 80 160 267
ISM (Phoenix) 75 150 312
Auto Club 60 120 200
Martinsville 130 260 500
Texas 85 170 334
Bristol 125 250 500
Richmond 100 200 400
Talladega 55 110 188
Dover 120 240 400
Kansas 80 160 267
Charlotte 100 200 (Stage 3: 300) 400
Pocono 50 100 160
Michigan 60 120 200
Sonoma 25 50 110
Chicagoland 80 160 267
Daytona-2 40 80 160
Kentucky 80 160 267
New Hampshire 75 150 301
Pocono-2 50 100 160
Watkins Glen 20 40 90
Michigan-2 60 120 200
Bristol-2 125 250 500
Darlington 100 200 367
Indianapolis 50 100 160
Las Vegas-2* 80 160 267
Richmond-2* 100 200 400
Charlotte-2* (road) 25 50 109
Dover-2* 120 240 400
Talladega-2* 55 110 188
Kansas-2* 80 160 267
Martinsville-2* 130 260 500
Texas-2* 85 170 334
ISM-2* (Phoenix) 75 150 312
Miami* 80 160 267
NASCAR Xfinity Series
RACE STAGE 1 STAGE 2 FINAL STAGE
Daytona 30 60 120
Atlanta 40 80 163
Las Vegas 45 90 200
ISM (Phoenix) 45 90 200
Auto Club 35 70 150
Texas 45 90 200
Bristol 85 170 300
Richmond 75 150 250
Talladega 25 50 113
Dover 45 90 200
Charlotte 45 90 200
Pocono 25 50 100
Michigan 30 60 125
Iowa 60 120 250
Chicagoland 45 90 200
Daytona-2 30 60 100
Kentucky 45 90 200
New Hampshire 45 90 200
Iowa-2 60 120 250
Watkins Glen 20 40 82
Mid-Ohio 20 40 75
Bristol-2 85 170 300
Road America 10 20 45
Darlington 45 90 147
Indianapolis 30 60 100
Las Vegas-2 45 90 200
Richmond-2* 75 150 250
Charlotte-2* (road) 15 30 55
Dover-2* 45 90 200
Kansas* 45 90 200
Texas-2* 45 90 200
ISM-2* (Phoenix) 45 90 200
Miami* 45 90 200
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
RACE STAGE 1 STAGE 2 FINAL STAGE
Daytona 20 40 100
Atlanta 40 80 130
Las Vegas 30 60 134
Martinsville 70 140 250
Dover 45 90 200
Kansas 40 80 167
Charlotte 30 60 134
Texas 40 80 167
Iowa 60 120 200
Gateway 35 70 160
Chicagoland 35 70 150
Kentucky 35 70 150
Eldora 40 90 150
Pocono 15 30 60
Michigan 20 40 100
Bristol 55 110 200
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park* 20 40 64
Las Vegas* 30 60 134
Talladega* 20 40 94
Martinsville* 50 100 200
Texas-2* 35 70 147
ISM* (Phoenix) 45 90 150
Miami* 30 60 134

 

Posted on by @nascarcasm

Fantasy sports are wonderful.

Fantasy sports allow us the chance to become more involved with a sport, so much so that if our fantasy team does poorly, we send tweets to the underperformer blaming them for ruining our lives.

MORE: Explore the new fantasy page | Fantasy Live revamped

Fantasy sports afford us the opportunity to hold a grudge against someone we know nothing about other than their handle is “AreUInThe14CarCuzBowyerUSexy69” and they routinely beat us by two points every week and make their picks based solely on how much of their favorite color is included in each paint scheme.

Fantasy sports allow you to grow an emotional attachment with a sport you love. And even sports you don’t know anything about. Ask me about my fantasy sumo team.

This all said, it is with great pleasure that thanks to NASCAR.com’s newly-improved fantasy racing platform, I extend an invitation to you, the followers who aren’t bots or fake ones that I purchased a few years back to fluff my Klout score, to join @nascarcasm’s Fantasy Dumpster Fire.

 

MORE: Fantasy Live FAQs

 

I chose this name based on my own fantasy-sports experience. I am to fantasy sports what Paul Menard is to musical theater. The last time I had a fantasy football team, my starting quarterback got injured for the season and I forgot to take him out of my starting lineup. Picture, if you will, a football game where the center keeps hiking the ball to absolutely no one. That’s my skill level.

 

The league is open to the first 4,000 signers-up. It will last for the first 26 races.

 

But ‘casm, you’re wondering, following the rapidly flowing river of dad-jokes-about-Blaney’s-hair sewage that is your Twitter feed is already bad enough. I mashed the mute button so hard and often that I now require Tommy John surgery. What’s in it for me?

 

HOT PASSES – THAT’S WHAT. The overall winner of the league will receive four hot passes to a race of their choosing during the 2019 season. No travel or lodging will be provided.

 

The second-place finisher will receive a $100 gift card to the NASCAR.com superstore.

 

The third-place finisher gets nothing because participation-ribbon culture only leads to WEAKNESS.

 

In the coming days, I will be soliciting ideas for what the overall loser of the league has to do. It won’t be anything as severe as streaking Dale Jr.’s property on a cold winter’s day. I mean, it was going to be, but then some people had to ruin it. I call these people “lawyers.” But we’ll figure it out.

 

To sign up, just click the link below. Here, you’ll also find all the details on how the game works. It’s so easy, even I can do it. That’s what my bosses told me. I’m grateful that my main contribution to NASCAR is setting the low bar for intellect.

 

LET’S FANTASY.

— @nascarcasm

Posted on by Team Release

RELATED: 2018 Camping World Truck Series schedule

SANDUSKY, Ohio — Fielding the No. 13 Liberty Tax Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing, Myatt Snider will round out a quartet of entries vying for victory as the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season kicks off at Daytona International Speedway.

Previously competing in NASCAR’s Whelen All-American Series, CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour, ARCA Racing Series and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the 23-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native has accumulated two wins, 13 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes and three pole awards, including winning his debut race in the ARCA Racing Series at Toledo Speedway in 2016.

ThorSport Racing

“To be a part of a team with a winning pedigree like Duke and Rhonda [Thorson] have built over the years is an absolute blessing,” exclaimed an excited Snider. “After getting to know the organization over the past month, I’m even more excited to get to Daytona, and to join ThorSport in 2018.

“I’m really looking forward to working with my new teammates, as there is a lot of knowledge to tap into going into my rookie season. Switching to a new manufacturer, it seems things have come full-circle, with Ford being a part of some of the biggest highlights in my racing career, including my ARCA win at Toledo.”

David Pepper, general manager at ThorSport Racing, echoed Myatt’s excitement saying, “He is an exceptional young man and talented driver. With him, I feel we’ve really rounded out our four-truck lineup and this, to me, is the strongest driver lineup we’ve ever had. We’re going to be very competitive this season, starting with Daytona.”

Snider and ThorSport Racing’s NCWTS teams take the green flag for the NextEra Energy Resources 250 Friday, Feb. 16, broadcasting live at 7:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) and the Motor Racing Network (MRN) from Daytona Beach, Florida.

Posted on by Brad Norman

Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of 14 team previews on NASCAR.com. Next up: Richard Childress Racing on Feb. 8. A list of team previews already published is at the bottom of this story.

Roush Fenway Racing

Manufacturer: Ford

Engine: Roush-Yates 

Drivers: Trevor Bayne, No. 6; Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17

Crew chiefs: Brian Pattie (Stenhouse Jr.), Matt Puccia (Bayne) 

2017 standings: Stenhouse Jr., 13th in final standings (eliminated in Round of 12); Bayne, 22nd in final standings

What’s new: Not a lot, a welcome change for Roush Fenway Racing which has undergone organizational-wide tweaks in recent years. No new drivers, no new crew chiefs and no change in the number of full-time vehicles in the team fleet. In fact, the only real change here is a positive — Roush enters 2018 on the heels of a multi-win season, with Stenhouse Jr. winning twice in 2017 and advancing to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs.

What to watch: How Roush Fenway builds off the success of 2017. The team won for the first time since 2014 with Stenhouse Jr. emerging as one of NASCAR’s best drivers at Daytona and Talladega. The team’s superspeedway cars are among the fastest in the garage, thanks to the work done at the shop by Jimmy Fennig and his team. Roush is as stable as it has been in a long time.

Key question(s): Can Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 17 team show the ability to win at tracks that don’t require restrictor plates? How can Bayne and the No. 6 team break through for more top-five finishes and be in contention more for victories?

DRIVERS

Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford: Bayne’s third full-time season driving the No. 6 in 2017 didn’t produce the same jump in numbers he saw between Year 1 and Year 2. Two top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes wasn’t what Bayne or his team had in mind; neither were the five DNFs by way of crash, a four-time increase from 2016.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

A key to watch for Bayne is the midseason stretch. The 26-year-old logged seven top-15 finishes in the first nine races last year, but then just one of the next 13. The success of teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brings added optimism to the No. 6 group.

“Last year, we went into the season with a lot of changes and we had a lot of goals on the board to try to make the Playoffs,” Bayne said. “I think where we fell short were playoff points. So we kind of look and say, ‘You’ve got to get at least five playoff points per race if you’re gonna be a (playoff) contender without a win.’ That was a lot more than kind of what we anticipated, so that’s where we fell short. The way you get those is by running in the top 10 and by being faster and more competitive.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford: Last year was the breakout season Stenhouse Jr. had been building toward since his first full-time season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2013. With an assist from Jimmy Fennig managing and molding the team’s superspeedway program into one of the best in the sport, Stenhouse posted career-highs in wins, top-10s, laps led, average start and average finish in 2017. He will be a favorite to win both races at Daytona and the spring race at Talladega prior to the Playoffs beginning in September.

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

It’s the intermediates that remain a question, however.

“I think there’s a lot of things that are looking good for us in 2018,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I think my team has confidence in what we’re gonna be able to do. Not looking for our first win is nice, not having that riding on your back. That seemed pretty tough to deal with for a long time and now I don’t have to answer those questions, but now it’s, what other race tracks are we gonna win at? I definitely want to win at other race tracks, but going into the (Daytona) 500 I feel a lot more confident than I ever have.”

PREVIOUS TEAM PREVIEWS

Feb. 1: Front Row Motorsports
Feb. 2: Richard Petty Motorsports
Feb. 3: Leavine Family Racing
Feb. 5: JTG Daugherty Racing
Feb. 6: Germain Racing

Posted on by

RELATED: Germain Racing 2018 preview

Ty Dillon is feeling content on an island — but he’s not stuck in the sand on this one.

The island is Germain Racing, which houses Dillon’s No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, while the mainland is Germain’s allied team of Richard Childress Racing.

To Dillon, being on an island doesn’t mean isolation; it means a chance to do something unexpectedly great, like reigning champion Martin Truex Jr. did with Furniture Row Racing. In 2014, Furniture Row led a lone lap with Truex and collected zero wins. Last season — just three years later — he earned eight wins and a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title with the same Denver, Colorado-based team.

That improvement is inspirational for Dillon.

“I think the island’s a good place to be,” Dillon said at the 2018 NASCAR Media Tour presented by Charlotte Motor Speedway. “You look at Furniture Row and that’s the gold standard right now for teams like ours. We’ve got to do it in our own way and use our resources the right way, but I think that’s kind of the approach that we’re taking …

“Somebody’s done it as a small team that uses technical alliances and can win a championship. We can do that. The opportunity is there; now it’s about us making the most of it. And I think that’s what we’re going to do and I think you kind of embrace that island-y feel and go to work with it.”

Ty Dillon, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress
Ty Dillon (right) poses with Richard Childress and Austin Dillon after winning a Texas Camping World Truck Series race in 2013.

This marks Dillon’s second season with single-car Germain Racing, a team that he plans to stick with despite his deep roots with Richard Childress Racing (his grandfather is team owner Richard Childress while his older brother is driver Austin Dillon). While he started out at Richard Childress in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2012, the 25-year-old driver prefers the new path that he’s carved for himself now that he’s reached the sport’s top level.

“I think there was something inside of me that wanted to break out of that a little bit,” Dillon said. “As much as I love having … my family in the sport and my grandfather is an owner and how much I would love to win races and championships for him, I think I needed to break out of that grandson-brother shadow that I had. … There are a lot of things my brother and I can do that are great and I still want to work with my grandfather. But I want people to know me … and who I am.

“I want to race for Germain Racing and GEICO my whole career and win races and championships and build my own brand like Kobe Bryant and the (Los Angeles) Lakers.”

That brand starts with openness off the track; in the early months of 2018, Dillon has taken action to improve and increase his communication with fans.

He will video blog his entire year and hired someone to attend 36 events — both races and other happenings — with him throughout the season to capture behind-the-scenes content.

“I have such a platform and I don’t think a lot of people realize what we have,” Dillon said. “… Something that has bothered me about our sport in the ‘90s and 2000s everybody said they could relate so well to Dale Earnhardt. That’s why they loved him. He’s obviously the top level of fandom in our sport. Everybody could relate to him so well and he did such a great job of making people feel they are just like Dale Earnhardt, even though he’s a race car driver. I feel like I can do that.”

MORE: Ty Dillon’s career NASCAR statistics

On the race track, Dillon also looks to improve after one year in the Monster Energy Series. He finished 24th in the standings last season, leading 40 laps. He wasn’t able to secure any top-10 finishes, but he did improve from his qualifying position in 27 of his 36 finishes.

The final two races in particular, Dillon saw improvements in his performance; he finished a season-best 11th at Phoenix and was running 13th at Miami before he was lumbered with a flat tire in the final laps.

Ty Dillon“I think our goal is to more or less, run more consistently – inside the top 15, top 10 – and I think that’s a very achievable goal,” Dillon said. “We do that, we’re going to get more opportunities. I feel like we did a great job … getting great finishes on days when we ran 25th all day. We would turn those days into 18th, 17th-place finishes.

“You do that running 15th, you’re going to have chances to win. You do that running 10th, you’re definitely going to have chances to win.”

But one of the biggest lessons his rookie season taught him wasn’t a complicated racing maneuver or trick to saving fuel. It was patience.

“I get pissed when I’m not in the top 10 or first every time and that affected me a lot this previous year,” Dillon said. “The last couple of races I just let that go and let that emotion in practice go and just mainly focus on the process of getting the race car driving the way I need it to drive to be able to do what I’m confident in myself to do and that’s go win races.”

Aiding in life lessons was the newest addition to the Dillon family; he and wife Haley welcomed their first child together — a baby girl named Oakley — on Nov. 21, 2017.

RELATED: Ty and Haley Dillon announce daughter’s birth

“Having my little girl in the offseason helped put some things in perspective in my life,” Dillon said, a smile brightening his face when the conversation turns to his daughter. “… I let the sport get me a little down, which sounds ridiculous in your rookie season because I never really struggled in any of my previous rookies seasons. … I hope to take what I’ve learned from being her father for two months and kind of adapt it to every aspect of my life and the appreciation for what I have and what I am and who I am.”

Perspective comes into play both on and off the track; during his press conference, Dillon looked across the room at Ryan Blaney, who was also holding his own media availability.

The crowd around Blaney was noticeably larger.

“Having everybody over there (with Blaney) and me being over here, I love that,” Dillon said, who stressed the importance of “loving a loss.”

“Because this whole year, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I have that crowd. I think last year, that would just make me mad and I would just stew on it all day and not really make anything out of it.

“But (now) I think it’s a great opportunity. I know what I have to offer.”