Tony Stewart exits from car, turns wheel over to Ty Dillon
TALLADEGA, Ala.—Ty Dillon stood alone, leaning against a pile of tires in the No. 14 pit box. Like thousands of others all around him, he was watching the GEICO 500 unfolding around him, listening to the race on his headset. Unlike the rest of the fans, though, he was going to be driving in this race before too much longer.
Dillon could only bide his time, waiting until a caution flag flew and Tony Stewart would wheel the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevy into the pit box. At that point, Dillon and Stewart would begin that most delicate of sporting maneuvers: switching drivers in the middle of a race.
Stewart injured his back in an off-road riding accident in January, and only returned to the track last week at Richmond. While doctors had pronounced Stewart's back sound enough for racing, the consensus opinion was that no good could come from a potentially catastrophic wreck. Such wrecks are always a possibility at Talladega, and indeed Sunday afternoon's race saw several that didn't involve Stewart.
Dillon and Stewart had established a switchover plan for the race, from using a seat tuned to Dillon's specifications to allowing Dillon to qualify the car. Dillon hadn't raced at Talladega at the Cup level, which is not unlike asking a rookie to guard LeBron James. You can prepare and game-plan all you want, but there's no substitute for full-speed action.
Stewart spent most of the race in the deep back of the pack, running no higher than 38th place. Just after he was lapped by leader Kyle Busch on Lap 48, Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun and brought out the first caution. From there, the 14 team clicked into action, Dillon standing calmly behind the blue concrete pit road divider
"It sucks, to be honest," Stewart told Fox Sports after relinquishing the seat. "I know why we got to do it, but it sucks. It still sucks that you have to do it, but if I hadn't broke my back at the end of January, we wouldn't be in this situation."
Stewart expressed his gratitude to Dillon for an admittedly difficult assignment. "He's been a rock star through this whole thing and especially this weekend," Stewart said. "He's done all the heavy lifting and I just got in to ride around for 50 laps and turn it over to him."
Stewart left the pit box after a quick interview, taking a golf cart deep into the infield. Meanwhile, Dillon managed to bring the car home to an impressive sixth-place finish, largely becase his was one of the few cars to avoid wrecks. It was a notable end to a unique day.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
