After ousting Denny Hamlin at Atlanta and toppling Brad Keselowski in Chicago, Ty Dillon’s fairytale run continued at Sonoma, knocking off Alex Bowman in a final-lap showdown to punch his ticket to the semifinals of the In-Season Challenge.
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Late in the race, Dillon and Bowman found themselves trading paint in the midpack. Though Bowman briefly slipped past, Dillon stayed glued to his bumper. On the last lap, Dillon executed a bump-and-run in the hairpin, nudging the No. 48 machine up the track. The two made slight contact again on the corner exit, but Dillon snuck by just before the checkered flag dropped.
That move sealed Dillon’s place among the final four. Statistically, Bowman had the upper hand with two prior ninth-place finishes at Sonoma. But with Dillon finishing this year’s race in 17th, two spots ahead of Bowman in 19th, he stole the golden ticket to the next round of the $1 million shootout.
After the dust settled, the pair met on pit road and hashed things out like professionals. The brief exchange ended with a handshake, showing mutual respect despite the late-race contact.
Recalling the last-lap drama, Dillon told reporters, “I had him coming to the white, and I think he got back by me. They all checked up on the bottom, and he got around to some top. Great move. And my goal was just to be close enough, getting into 11 where I could move him.”
He made it clear there was no bad blood as the No. 48 driver raced him clean. He further stated, “Just really happy with the way that it ended up, and if it wasn’t for a million dollars that had never hunted him like that [sic].” Dillon then credited his team and sponsors for the chance to chase the prize.
“But million dollars means a lot to us, and just grateful for the opportunity… We’re having fun with it and we’re just going to let the good times roll and see what happens in Dover,” he added.
Dillon now gets ready to square off against John Hunter Nemechek at Dover, another surprise contender who’s turned heads in this bracket. On the opposite side, Toyota teammates Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs will go head-to-head in the other semifinal battle.
