NASCAR Cup Series

Ambitious plan: Ty Dillon hopes to run Sprint Cup full-time in 2016

Published Jun. 2, 2015 3:16 p.m. ET

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The 2015 season is only 13 races into the year, but Silly Season talk already is running rampant through the NASCAR garage.

One question lingering out there has to deal with the future of third-generation racer Ty Dillon.

The grandson of team owner Richard Childress, son of former driver Mike Dillon and younger brother of Sprint Cup driver Austin Dillon, Ty has three Camping World Truck Series victories and one XFINITY Series victory under his belt.

Dillon also has four Sprint Cup Series starts over the past two seasons, with his best finish coming in his first start, a 25th at Atlanta Motor Speedway last year in his very first Cup start.

Ty will be back behind the wheel of a Sprint Cup car this weekend at Pocono Raceway, driving the Joe Falk-owned No. 33 Chevrolet with sponsor Yuengling on board.

However, there has been talk in the garage of the 23-year-old driver wanting to go full-time Sprint Cup Series racing in 2016.

On Tuesday's edition of SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "Tradin' Paint," Dillon set the record straight and said that is in fact the plan for next year, but there is still a lot of work to be done in order for it to happen.

"I don't know if we can fully commit to say anything," Dillon told host Jim Noble. "We don't have anything in concrete, and that's the way the sport goes. I think we have full intentions -- I know I do and my grandfather both sat down talking of full intentions of doing both full-time series and running for the points in the Sprint Cup Series. That's all in due time and that's what we're working toward right now."

The younger Dillon brother admitted that could be "off in the future and sponsor-pending."

The best way to attract those sponsors, Dillon said, is to continue focusing on this season, winning races and contending for the XFINITY Series championship. Dillon heads into the off-weekend just 15 points behind Dover winner Chris Buescher, the current series points leader.

"I know I can get in the Cup Series next year do a good job and run for the rookie of the year. We have to continue to work hard and wait for opportunities to come up," he said.

There are a variety of options at Dillon's disposal in the Sprint Cup Series. Richard Childress Racing is currently a three-car team with Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard.

Ty Dillon and fellow RCR driver Brian Scott often compete in Falk's No. 33 Chevrolet, and Brendan Gaughan -- RCR's third XFINITY Series driver -- often runs Sprint Cup entries for team owner Jay Robinson.

In addition, RCR has a close technical alliance with Furniture Row Racing. The long-time single-car team recently told FOXSports.com it is open to the idea of fielding a second car, if sponsorship were to work out.

"Being a single-car (operation) for so long and now feeling like we're getting it to work really well, you feel like now is the time to go ahead and look at bringing something else on," Furniture Row Racing general manager Joe Garone said. "You feel like you don't have to go through all the learning processes that you go through building a single-car team; you've kind of gone through that.

"We look forward to going through that process. Again, it all comes down to raising the money."

While Ty has the goal of running full-time in the Sprint Cup Series next season, he added that he always wants to compete full-time in the XFINITY Series as well.

"It's always been an all-time dream of mine to be able to run both series full-time and that's something we're kind of striving for next year," he said. "I think that's why you're hearing things coming out now, because are working hard to get things ironed out so we can compete in very strongly in both series."

VIDEO: A look back at Ty Dillon's first (and so far only) XFINITY Series win last year

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