Ty Dillon’s NASCAR Cup Series career might not be hitting its stride, with 268 starts over 12 years yielding no major breakthroughs. But off the track, he’s a clear winner. His marriage to Haley Dillon brings a dimension far removed from the roar of engines, as she has carved her own path in film, television, and music.
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Interestingly, the couple’s story didn’t begin on a set. As Dillon had shared in a 2016 interview, they first met as teenagers at a North Carolina racing event in 2011 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He admitted he was a bit intimidated by Haley during those early encounters, but a connection through one of her brothers, who lived with Dillon’s friend, gave him a chance to connect.
Haley herself offered a candid account of their early days while answering fan questions on her Believe in the Good podcast. “Ty reached out to me on Facebook. We messaged on Facebook a lot. He would reach out to me constantly on Facebook, and I was just like in college and had a boyfriend, and finally he caught me single at one point in time, and I kind of like, I’d leave him on read,” she recalled.
She said Dillon once sent her nine consecutive messages before finally writing, “Tell me to eff off if you don’t want to talk to me.” At the time, she was juggling college, two jobs, sorority life, and dating a NASCAR driver from North Carolina wasn’t remotely on her radar. She made it clear she wasn’t interested in long-distance, telling him that while he could visit her in Washington, she wouldn’t fly to North Carolina or attend a race.
Dillon, determined, booked a trip anyway. But before that visit, their phone calls grew longer and more frequent, including one five-hour conversation that changed everything. They both realized they liked each other.
“The second he walked from the airport, it was just like, ‘Oh, that’s my husband.’ I mean, it was just immediate,” Haley said. The instant connection eventually led to a never-ending romance.
Interestingly, the timeline of their relationship carries a symmetry: their first real conversation, that phone call, happened on December 20, and exactly four years later, on December 20, 2014, they got married after getting engaged on December 28, 2013.
Today, Dillon and Haley are proud parents of two. Their daughter, Oakley Ray Dillon, was born on November 20, 2017, and their son, Kapton Reed Dillon, arrived on October 29, 2020. While Ty’s on-track battles continue, his off-track life has already delivered his most cherished wins.
Haley has also appeared in Luke Combs’ 2022 music video for “The Kind of Love We Make,” the second single from his third studio album Growin’ Up. Her acting résumé includes roles like Dixie in the TV show Blue Ridge and Kathy in the movie Another Life, along with appearances in Cornered, Camp, and Land Rights. In 2023, she even featured in a PayPal commercial, proudly sharing the clip with her followers on Instagram.
