Ty Dillon may have fallen short of winning the In-Season Tournament and the $1 million prize, but he walked away with something far more valuable: a swell of admiration, recognition, and long-overdue time in the spotlight.
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His Cinderella run to the final brought a level of exposure that had eluded him despite having raced in NASCAR for over 13 years. Fans were introduced to a different side of Dillon, with stories and anecdotes that rarely surface when the focus remains on the sport’s marquee names.
During the recent 12 Questions segment with Jeff Gluck, Dillon opened up about some personal moments, including the time he felt the most miserable behind the wheel. He admitted that his roughest experience came earlier this year in Mexico City, while driving his Chevy Camaro ZL1.
“I did it in reverse order; I had the stomach flu Wednesday night, the night before we flew out. I actually got sick in the airport while we were all sitting at the terminal at Charlotte Douglas. I was still going through the full motions of the stomach bug, coming out both ends. So that whole 14 hours of travel was very miserable for me getting there,” Dillon shared.
After resting through the night, Dillon’s appetite returned just in time for practice. But hunger led him to a decision he’d later regret, digging into tacos prepared for everyone in the garage by the local favorite, Tacos Atarantados. “While the tacos were amazing, my stomach was still messed up,” he recalled.
That led to a moment Dillon won’t forget. “I was in the car, and that was the first time I felt like, ‘I’m gonna make a mess inside the car.’ I just didn’t know what side it was going to come out of,” he narrated.
When Gluck jokingly asked Dillon if the tacos were worth the trouble despite making him sick, the No. 10 Kaulig Racing driver admitted he went back for more the very next day and even grabbed another round on Sunday.
He insisted he would never pass on those tacos again. Dillon said that although it wasn’t worth the feeling he had inside the race car on Friday, the tacos were still worth it, adding that they caused no further health issues afterward.
Still, likely because of his illness, Dillon slipped from his starting position of P28 to finish P33 by the end of the race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
