CUP: Ty Dillon’s exploding brake rotor ends his challenging afternoon in Martinsville
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Kaulig Racing, @KauligRacing
Ty Dillon picked up the 5th last-place finish of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #10 Black’s Tire Chevrolet fell out with brake issues after 298 of 400 laps.
The finish, which came in Dillon’s 288th series start, was his first of the season and first in a Cup Series race since May 1, 2023 at Dover, 104 races ago. In the Cup Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 41st for the #10, the 83rd from brake issues, and the 883rd for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 138th for the #10, the 176th from brake problems, and the 2,032nd for Chevrolet.
The younger of the two Dillon brothers’ most recent last-place finish came in his last season with Spire Motorsports, when he drove the same #77 now piloted by upstart Carson Hocevar. Dillon returned to the Truck Series with the Rackley-W.A.R. effort, but was replaced near season’s end by Dawson Sutton. In between, he’d picked up a few rides with Richard Childress Racing, 23XI Racing, and what was then Kaulig Racing’s “all-star” entry, the #16. When A.J. Allmendinger returned to full-time Cup competition last season, Dillon was bumped to Kaulig’s second entry, now the #10. He ended up putting together some surprising performances, leading his Duel race in Daytona, qualifying 7th for the 500 and finishing in 14th. He also took 12th in Texas and 8th in the fall race Atlanta, earning him a return for 2026. He started this year with three straight finishes of 16th or better, but came into Sunday’s race with three more no better than 26th.
For Martinsville, Dillon carried sponsorship from Black’s Tire, which had long been identified with Ricky Benton’s Truck Series team and the racing efforts of driver-turned-team owner David Gilliland. Last season, the company sponsored five races for teammate A.J. Allmendinger, including his surprising 5th in last fall’s Southern 500 at Darlington. This time around, Dillon was one of 37 drivers entered for 40 starting spots, and ranked 24th in practice with a best lap of 19.819 seconds (95.545mph). That same session saw him tie Connor Zilisch for a session-high 70 laps completed. Dillon picked up an early draw, coming out fourth on track, where he had to settle for the 36th spot with a speed of 19.760 seconds (95.830mph).
The only driver slower than Dillon in qualifying was O’Reilly Auto Parts Series standout Austin Hill, who returned to Richard Childress Racing’s #33 United Rentals Chevrolet for the first time since Phoenix. No drivers incurred tail-end penalties, so Hill was the last car across the stripe as the green flag dropped, showing 3.894 seconds back of the lead to Dillon’s 3.852. Just ahead of them, 35th-place starter Cody Ware in the #51 Super.com Chevrolet was passed to his outside by Kyle Busch in the #8 FICO Chevrolet. By then, both Dillon and Hill had lined up to the outside, letting Dillon past in Turns 3 and 4, the Hill trying to follow off Turn 2 at the start of Lap 2. Heading into Turn 3, the inside line suddenly slowed, and Ware rammed the rear of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.’s #47 Jack Links Non-Vegan Chevrolet. This allowed Hill to drop Ware to last as Ware fell behind by open track.
By Lap 7, Ware had caught back up to Hill’s rear bumper, but couldn’t complete a pass to the outside. The interval between the two stabilized at about two-tenths of a second. On Lap 11, Ware radioed his team, asking “How bad is our nose?” referring to the contact with Stenhouse. The team didn’t respond until Ware asked a second time, at which time they said, “Looks good from here.” By Lap 15, Hill had dropped Stenhouse back to 35th, and on Lap 16, Ware tried to get under him in Turns 1 and 2. But Stenhouse threw the block, ramping Ware onto the curb and costing him time. Once again, Ware caught up to Stenhouse in three laps, but when the two separated by Lap 35, the gap increased to a half-second. It was on Lap 35 that race leader Denny Hamlin got under Ware in Turns 1 and 2, putting him a lap down.
On Lap 42, as Hamlin caught the other backmarkers, he was trapped behind the #42 Dollar Tree Toyota of John Hunter Nemechek, which caused a stack-up between both the leaders and the last few lapped drivers. Ware closed in on Hill until Hamlin eventually made it past, leaving dark marks on Nemechek’s white rear bumper. It wasn’t until Lap 67 that Ware’s crew told him the “black part of the grille” on his car was pushed in, citing photos taken by the team. Ahead of him, Nemechek had fallen to 36th on Lap 69. Though many other drivers had already been lapped, Ware was told by his team “whatever you can do to get by him, just do it.” On Lap 77, Ware got to the outside of Nemechek off Turn 4, mashed the gas, then pulled alongside, setting up a side-by-side battle through Turns 1 and 2. Ware finally made it past off Turn 2, but by then, Hamlin had nearly caught them both, threatening to put them down a second lap. Also in the crosshairs was Daniel Suarez, whose #7 Group 1001 Chevrolet rammed the back of Nemechek, shoving him into Ware and causing Ware to spin, drawing the first caution. Ware continued on, but lost his second lap to Hamlin in the process. Ware radioed his team, saying “42 didn’t do us any favors.” Shortly after the contact, Nemechek told his, “7 shipped me.”
Since the incident came so close to the end of Stage 1, the yellow was extended through the end of the stage. Nemechek radioed his car was “so fucking loose through entry and exit, and no front grip mid-center. I don't know how much the damage has hurt me but it's bad.” Ware had similar concerns and ended up making two pit stops, the second for minor repairs to the right-front corner of his Chevrolet. The crew chief hurried Ware off pit road, and Ware remained in last for the Lap 96 restart with the cars of Busch and the #48 Ally Chevrolet of Justin Allgaier side-by-side ahead of him. Three laps into the run, Allgaier crossed Ware’s nose off Turn 2, nearly causing another collision. “We keep getting chopped by the guy in front of us,” said Ware, adding he was “plowing tight on the center, now wrecking loose in and off” as the last adjustments had “freed us up in al the wrong places.”
Fortunately, the next caution followed on Lap 106 after contact from A.J. Allmendinger’s #16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet sent Noah Gragson’s #4 Fuel by Franzia Ford spinning off Turn 4, just as Chris Buescher made an unscheduled stop for a bolt clattering between his brake caliper and right-front wheel on his #17 Kroger / Thomas’ High Protein Ford. With Buescher now trapped in 36th, Ware pitted under caution on Lap 109 for four tires. He again tried the high lane for the Lap 113 restart, only to report his car was tighter in the center and looser off the corner than it had been all day. Ware was soon staring at the rear bumper of new 36th-place runner Cole Custer, whose #41 HaasTooling.com Chevrolet was still a lap ahead of him at the time. Ware still struggled to clear Custer, telling his team he needed “more mid-corner rotation to et around these guys – I can’t make a move.” Then on Lap 148, race leader Hamlin caught Ware through Turns 1 and 2, putting him a third lap down. Stage 2 ended on Lap 182, at which point Ware reported he was running so tight he was chattering the tires.
Ware’s tight condition didn’t improve in the final stage, and he again chattered the front tires on Lap 229, followed by race leader Hamlin getting by off Turn 2 to drop him a fourth lap down on pace. Green-flag stops were now starting, causing the last spot to finally change hands. Nemechek made a stop on Lap 238, dropping him a fourth lap down. As Nemechek pulled onto the backstretch, Ware tried to clear him in the high lane, but Nemechek fought back down low. Ware held him off on Lap 238, but Nemechek made it back by through Turns 1 and 2, dropping Ware to last again. On Lap 251, Nemechek had parlayed his fresh tires into getting oe of his four laps back, clearing Hamlin into Turn 1 to put himself three laps down.
Allmendinger took last place on Lap 265 after his stop, then Hill retook it after his on Lap 268. Then on Lap 273, Hill slowed on the frontstretch believing he had a right-front tire going down. He limped along the apron and made it to pit road with his right-front wheel jammed against the fender. As it turned out, a loose wheel nut had flown off on the frontstretch, causing the issue. Already five laps down in last place, Hill’s second stop left him seven down as he came up to speed on Lap 276. The now 36th-place Ware had not yet made his stop during this sequence, and by Lap 287 had lost a fifth lap to the leaders, narrowing his gap to Hill. Hill then passed leader Hamlin on Lap 290, just before Hamlin made his own stop. Both events left Hill just five laps down, on the same lap as Ware, continuing what was now a tight battle for last place.
Then on Lap 300, with 100 to go in the race, Ty Dillon was running 29th when his right-front brake rotor exploded in Turns 1 and 2, dropping debris on the track and cutting down his tire. Dillon cut left to try and make it to pit road, only to have his path blocked by a speeding Custer, who had to lock his brakes to make pit entry. Dillon limped around the track for another lap, during which the caution didn’t fall, until he finally made it down pit road with fire and smoke billowing from behind his right-front wheel. Dillon made it to his stall, and Lap 303 had fallen six laps down, dropping him to last behind both Hill and Ware. On Lap 309, the crew decided to take Dillon behind the wall, where his crew was waiting in Garage Stalls 3 and 4 on the backstretch. He pulled diagonally into the opening between Pit Stalls 9 and 10 on the Turn 1 side. By then, his rotor had drawn the caution on Lap 312. It was this caution – combined with a decision to short-pit on the previous run – which ultimately allowed Chase Elliott to beat Denny Hamlin for the win.
On Lap 322, Dillon’s onboard camera was shut off. On Lap 328, during cleanup from a multi-car accident in Turn 4, the crew asked, “Are we trying to fix it, boys, or are we done?” The answer, “Frankie, we’re done, man. We broke a right-front rotor.” NASCAR declared him out on Lap 337, the same lap that Riley Herbst was declared out after his #35 Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota was collected in the Lap 324 pileup in Turn 4. At first, both Dillon and Herbst were declared out by “accident,” but the results corrected to show Dillon out with “brakes.” Between Dillon and Herbst was 36th-place finisher Bubba Wallace, whose #23 Hardee’s Toyota collided with the spinning Zane Smith in the #38 Long John Silver’s Ford. While Wallace was declared out on Lap 341, Smith returned on Lap 359, showing 29 laps down in 34th. Smith climbed no higher in the final laps as Hill, now six down, finished just behind Ware in the 33rd spot.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #10 in a Cup Series race at Martinsville since September 30, 1973, when Bill Champion completed a season sweep of the last-place finishes after his #10 Champion Racing 1971 Ford had an oil leak after 18 of a rain-shortened 480 laps in the Old Dominion 500.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #10-Ty Dillon / 298 laps / brakes
36) #23-Bubba Wallace / 322 laps / crash
35) #35-Riley Herbst / 323 laps / crash
34) #38-Zane Smith / 371 laps / running
33) #33-Austin Hill / 394 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES OWNER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing (2)
2nd) Garage 66, Kaulig Racing, Live Fast Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing, Wood Brothers Racing (1)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES MANUFACTURER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (3)
2nd) Ford, Toyota (2)
2026 LASTCAR CUP SERIES DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
