In 2016, Joe Dilly was about halfway through his summer vacation when he already hit the ocean.
The 14-year-old had gone swimming in the salt water at Ocean Isle Beach on the North Carolina coast, and when his family recovered a soccer ball, he was among those throwing spirals from the shallows.
Lots of fools, Maybe a joke, was Dilly’s first thought when he felt a strong pull under the surface.”I feel like I’m pulling really hard under to the water, almost like someone grabbing my leg to scare me,” Dilly. remember “It’s exactly like it doesn’t hurt just a really strong guy. I look around and I don’t see anything.”However, Dili quickly realized that something was wrong and a cousin saw a big feather to emerge from the surface of the water.
Dilly was quickly dragged to the ground, admitting that he was “a bit crazy” and saw blood everywhere when he reached the sand. A feeling of numbness began to set in.”I knew it was a shark,” Dilly said. 22 Team Penske Ford for driver Joey Logano. When FOX Sports introduced the no. On April 22 to a television audience during the April 21 broadcast of the final Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, Dilly noted his rookie status in his five-second bio, but added almost casually: “Also, survive the shark attack.” The only thing missing was a record-breaking sound effect. “You know you’re a bad guy when a shark bites you and pulls you out,” joked FOX analyst Clint Bowyer. “Did you hear that guy?!”
Now 21 years old and competing in his first full season of Cup Series competition, Dilly and a group of veterans on the team are preparing for the playoffs that begin Sunday with the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Team Penske has won the last two championships, with Logano’s second title in 2022 before Ryan Blaney’s first season last year.
One of the biggest changes to the pits came when NASCAR’s Next Gen car was introduced in 2022, with a single center wheel chock replacing the five-pin system. While many veterans were forced to adapt to a new method of changing tires, Dilly was the first member of Team Penske to train only on the single-nut technique. “They never let me touch a five-nut gun,” said Dilly. “He wasn’t going to unlearn anything, was he?” Wolfe said. “I think it was kind of an advantage for him. “You have guys like Jake who have changed five nuts for how many years and have that muscle memory, and a young man who comes in should not forget what he did for 15 years and can start again.
He is obviously a very talented man and he did a good job. It’s one thing to be able to do it in the pits and have the speed we’re looking for, but then when you take it to the big screen and also be able to perform under pressure it was exciting to see it’s clear why he’s still in our car.
The “big screen” Wolfe refers to having his moment of glory in the 10 races ahead. Logano captured the first award of the Cup Series just two seasons ago, but was eliminated after a tough first round last year.This season, he is ninth in the 16-rider field after qualifying for the title with a win at the end of June.
From shark survivor to Cup Series Playoffs, Dilly finds a home with Team Penske’s pit-crew veterans
