NASCAR top-tier ride: Making the case for Ty Dillon

There are several NASCAR Cup Series drivers who deserve better rides. Ty Dillon is one of them. Will he ever get a ride with a top-tier team?

As a NASCAR Cup Series rookie driving for Germain Racing this season, Ty Dillon, 25, has flown under the radar, especially with rookies Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez becoming regular contenders to win races.

But of the small-team drivers, Dillon is currently the highest in the championship standings out of all of them up in 24th place. In fact, he is higher than a driver for a top-tier team. Danica Patrick, who drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, is only in 28th place.

Dillon has driven in 43 career Cup Series races, 25 of which this season. In 2014 and 2015, he drove some races for Richard Childress Racing. Last season, he drove some races for Leavine Family Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing.

While he has yet to finish a race in the top 10 in his young Cup Series career, he has consistently brought his car home in one piece, which is impressive given the fact that he drives for just a one-car team.

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So far in his 43-race Cup Series career, Dillon has failed to finish just four races, with three of those DNF’s coming this season. In the 22 of 25 races that he has finished so far this season, an impressive statistic in itself, he has finished in the top 20 on 16 different occasions, which is impressive for a rookie, especially given the fact that he is driving for a one-car Germain Racing operation.

In several races this season, he has been a factor late to potentially earn his first career victory. He was in the mix for victories at Talladega, Dover and Daytona. However, despite establishing himself as a race contender, he hasn’t been able to pull through yet and has only finished as high as 13th place at Talladega and Darlington.

Still, for a rookie driver driving for one-car Germain Racing to be racking up consistently mediocre results like Dillon has means that he could be a star if given the opportunity to shine in a full-time driving role for a top-tier organization.

Thanks to Paul Menard’s scheduled departure from Richard Childress Racing at the end of this season, Dillon may just get the chance to drive for Richard Childress Racing, which is one of the sport’s larger teams, with the seat of the #27 Chevrolet open next season.

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Do you believe Ty Dillon deserves a Cup Series ride with a top-tier organization? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter.