Ty Dillon will drive the #13 GEICO Chevrolet for Germain Racing in 2017. The move was announced in a team release Monday morning.
Dillon, who recently competed for Richard Childress Racing in the Xfinity Series, has 18 starts in the Cup Series for RCR, Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing. He drove for SHR and TBR on substitute bases for Tony Stewart and Regan Smith, respectively. His best Cup finish is 14th at the 2015 June Michigan race. He also ran the second portion of the 2016 Talladega spring race as a relief driver for Stewart, where he finished 6th.
“I have been preparing for this next step in my career for several years,” Dillon stated. “With my experience in the Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series, I am ready to drive full-time in the Sprint Cup Series.”
Dillon will replace Casey Mears in the #13. Mears had been with Germain since 2010, recording five top-10 finishes and a best finish of 4th at the 2014 Coke Zero 400 in Daytona. Mears and the team struggled in 2016, failing to record a top-10 and finishing 28th in points; the team’s best finish was 12th at the July Daytona and Watkins Glen races.
Mears has not announced his 2017 plans.
In three full-time seasons with RCR in the Xfinity Series, Dillon finished in the top-5 in points each year. He recorded his first series win at Indianapolis in 2014 along with 65 top-10 finishes during that three-year stretch.
With his move up, Dillon will join his older brother Austin in racing together. This would make the Dillons the second pair of brothers to be competing full-time in the Cup Series for 2017 alongside the Busch brothers of Kurt and Kyle.
Germain will continue its alliance with RCR, receiving Earnhardt Childress Racing engines and other technology. Dillon is also expected to continue racing for RCR’s Xfinity program in 2017.
Featured image courtesy of Getty Images
