Ty Dillon welcomes opportunity to sub for Tony Stewart – Johnson: Hendrick will adjust to loss of Stewart-Haas – Hamlin spins in opening Sprint Cup practice
Story By: REID SPENCER / NASCAR WIRE SERVICE Photos By: DICK AYERS / RACERSGUIDE.COM and GETTY IMAGES / NASCAR
HAMPTON, GA- Februaary 27, 2016- Ty Dillon’s work load tripled this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
With Dillon tabbed as the substitute driver for injured Tony Stewart for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event (1 p.m. ET on FOX), Dillon will be battling for 500 miles in addition to the 250 he’ll run in Saturday’s Heads Up Georgia 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1).
But to Dillon, the opportunity to race in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet more than makes up for the extra work.
“It’s a huge weekend,” Dillon said on Friday during a question-and-answer with reporters in the Atlanta media center. “First of all, I have to thank Stewart-Haas Racing for the opportunity to be in the 14 car. I think everybody wants to see Tony in this car. With those unfortunate circumstances, I was able to be in the car this weekend, which is good for me to get the experience in such great equipment.”
Stewart suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra in a Jan. 31 all-terrain vehicle accident in Southern California’s Glamis Dunes. He has vowed to return to the No. 14 car this season, but there is no specific timetable.
Brian Vickers took Stewart’s place in the Daytona 500, finishing 26th, and will be back in the car March 6 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. SHR hasn’t revealed a schedule for replacement drivers beyond the first three races of the 2016 season.
Nevertheless, Dillon isn’t bashful about his prospects for his first trip in the 14.
“I have high expectations for this weekend,” said Dillon, whose brother Austin Dillon subbed for Stewart for two races in 2013, after the three-time champion broke his leg in a sprint car accident in Iowa. “I said it earlier in the week that I always set my goals high.
“I want to run good in this car. I want to do good for Tony and Stewart-Haas Racing. I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to run in the top 10 or top 15. I’m going to give it all I have. I’ve been talking with (crew chief) Mike (Bugarewicz) all week. I want to go out there and impress a lot of people and show people what I’m made of and what I can do in these race cars.”
JOHNSON: HENDRICK WILL ADJUST TO LOSS OF STEWART-HAAS
Stewart-Haas Racing’s blockbuster announcement of its impending move from Chevrolet to Ford in 2017 affects another NASCAR powerhouse — Hendrick Motorsports.
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is confident team owner Rick Hendrick will make the adjustment in the 10 months between Tuesday’s announcement and SHR’s departure from the engine and chassis deal that has been in place since Tony Stewart partnered with Gene Haas in 2009.
“It was certainly a shock,” Johnson said on Friday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “We have contracts in place with Stewart-Haas Racing that Hendrick has to honor and will honor and honor with integrity the way we always do. We have a lot of employees whose jobs count on that and rely on that.
“Nothing is different this year. Fortunately, we have a year to figure out if we service some other teams and provide engines and chassis or how we handle it. I know Rick’s goal is to keep the staff where it is. That gets me excited, because, if we maintain the staff, I think we’ll be able to develop much more cool stuff for our race cars.”
HAMLIN SPINS IN OPENING SPRINT CUP PRACTICE
Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin spun his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during Friday’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but the loss of control wasn’t attributable to the lower-downforce competition package making its 2016 debut this weekend.
Rather, Hamlin blamed the line he oftens runs during the Sprint Cup races.
“I tend to use probably a little bit more of the apron,” explained Hamlin, who was 23rd fastest in the opening session. “Me and Kevin (Harvick) seem to use the apron a lot to make our cars go around the corner and I just – I felt like I got on the apron a little bit too much, and that just de-wedges the car a lot, and that’s when it spun the car out.
“I think it was just trying to kind of simulate a race simulation a little bit more. You don’t like to practice down there a whole lot, but you race down there, so I was trying to get down there as soon as I could and just lost it. But we’re – at the time, we’re kind of fighting the handling of our car anyways. I think we ran – that was like our 11th lap in a row of a run and it’s going to be handfuls on Sunday for a lot of people.”
Kyle Larson paced the opening session with a lap at 192.902 mph, followed by Kasey Kahne (191.807 mph) and AJ Allmendinger (190.975 mph).
