Ty Dillon climbed from a beaten and battered Chevrolet on pit road at Dover International Speedway and began giving out handshakes and slaps on the back to his pit crew.

And that was after crashing on the last lap of the AAA 400 and finishing 14th.

Lined up fourth on the final restart, Dillon got loose off Turn 2 when he hit the speedy dry laid down by track workers following the final caution. When his car pitched to the left, Dillon collided with Ryan Newman, which sent him back to the right and the outside wall. By the time his car came to rest against the wall in Turn 3, eight others had piled in.

But while that’s what the results will show, Dillon’s performance was far better. A fast pit stop by his Germain Racing team and a quick turn out of his pit box gave Dillon the lead with 66 laps to go. He then led 27 laps before being overtaken by Kyle Larson and eventual winner Jimmie Johnson.

“First of all, I’m really proud of our Germain Racing team,” Dillon said. “I can’t thank Bob Germain enough for giving me the opportunity to come out here and race with these guys; it’s a lifelong dream. To lead laps, that meant a lot to me. We had to restart fourth on old tires, and I just think the air off the 31 (Newman) got me a little loose, and they left a bunch of sand there off Turn 2, and as soon as I got loose and hit that sand, it was all over.

“I feel bad for all the cars that got torn up. But, really, I don’t know what the 31 or myself could have done any different to stay out of that crash. Proud of our effort today. We proved to ourselves as a team that we can run up front with the big boys and just proud of our effort by our GEICO Chevy.”

Crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker called Dillon’s performance tremendous.

“He’s been there all year,” Barker told RACER. “Like last week at Charlotte he was as fast as anybody, but we had some bad stuff happen. So, it was good to get him up front and let him get it done. He did well.”

Dover was just the 13th race Dillon and Barker have worked together. In addition to fighting for Rookie of the Year honors, the team now sits tied with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for 22nd in points.

“Exceptional,” Barker said of how things are going between driver and crew chief. “I enjoy working with him a lot. The whole crew is good; we’ve come a long way. Ty’s doing a great job.”