How I Watch With NASCAR Driver and Carolina Native Ty Dillon

How do you watch your favorite team each week? Sports Illustrated is highlighting passionate sports fans all season long with its How I Watch series, where you’ll hear from athletes, celebrities and other superfans from across the country about their game-day traditions, routines and setup for the perfect day of watching sports.

North Carolina native Ty Dillon was just three years old when the Carolina Panthers played their first season. So it was a no-brainer for the NASCAR driver—who races for Statesville, N.C.-based Petty GMS Motorsports—to become a devoted fan of his hometown team.

Decades later, Dillon’s fandom has led to Super Bowl attendance, signed memorabilia and even some trackside support from members of the NFL team. He spoke to Sports Illustrated about the NFC divide in his family, balancing football fandom with his career and the aggressive rebuilding the Panthers are undergoing this season.

Sports Illustrated: Tell me a little about how your Panthers fandom got started. I imagine that growing up in North Carolina there’s not a lot of choice in that matter, right?

Ty Dillon: Yeah, definitely. I was obviously a little kid [when the franchise started]; all I’ve ever known is Panthers football, from my young ages until now. Over the years, being in racing, I have met a lot of the players and coaches and people within the organization, which has just kind of made my fandom even deeper. So, I have a deep passion for the Panthers, which I’d say started just from relativity and closeness and living in North Carolina and a passion for football.

SI: So now, what’s the first thing that you’ll do to get yourself pumped up to watch a game?

TD: If I’m home to watch a game, I certainly have to have a jersey on. And I certainly have to have my whole quiet setup with a major focus—I really like to be focused for the game and watch all aspects of it. I just enjoy it that much. I have to have some jersey and memorabilia on, or else I just don’t feel right.

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SI: Do you have any weird rituals or superstitions that you go through? You just mentioned setting up so it’s really quiet?

TD: Nothing too crazy … well, there’s certain jerseys that I’ll wear. Like, if they’re winning, I’ll wear the same jersey until they lose. When they went to the Super Bowl, I wore the same jersey every weekend and didn’t wash it or anything. That’s probably my only ritual. [Laughs] Right now, unfortunately, I’ve been needing to change jerseys more often here.

SI: So what’s your favorite piece of Panthers jersey or memorabilia—something that you have in your house or that you wear?

TD: There’s some cool stuff. I have a football signed by Steve Smith and Cam Newton; a couple guys on the team, some of the Panthers legends that will go down forever as Hall of Fame Panthers. I have quite a few different things, different jerseys … but I think some of the coolest stuff is just getting to meet people in real life: some of the players and coaches, that’s been the highlight of my fandom.

SI: Do you know if any of them have come out to watch you race?

TD: Yeah. Actually this year at Charlotte, there was a whole bunch. A bunch of guys came out; I think we took some pictures with almost the whole tight end room, and the offensive linemen. A bunch of the guys … Johnny Hekker and special teams guys were there. There was a huge contingency of Panthers guys. They all hung out with us at the car and we got to chill with them. Earlier in the week I was invited to go to their OTA practice, and hang out and meet them all, and then they all came to the race. So that was a very cool weekend for all of us.

SI: When you’re watching a game, what’s your go-to snack spread to have set up?

TD: My wife is a great chef, so she’s always making some type of dip, whether it’s a five-layer dip or anything. She’s always trying something. When we’re home, she always hooks it up with a yummy dip plate or some kind of good Sunday football snack plethora.

SI: And how about for a drink?

TD: Definitely gonna have a beer or some sort of alcoholic beverage. I think it’s just natural, when you’re of age and there’s a football game on Sunday and you don’t have anything going on … that’s the go-to.

SI: Are you typically watching at home, or do you head out to a bar or to the game?

TD: I typically watch them at home. If I’m not going to the game, I’m going to watch it at home.

SI: And when you go to a game, what do you consider the tailgate essential?

TD: We haven’t personally tailgated a whole lot, we just sort of bounce around. But you obviously have to make sure you bring your own drinks so you can make sure you have what you want. But we haven’t tailgated a whole lot as fans, we always try to get into the stadium as early as we can. I like to watch the warmups and see the pregame energy, so we don’t spend a lot of time out tailgating.

SI: With you, a lot of the Cup Series races are on Sundays. How do you manage that with also trying to keep up with the Panthers?

TD: [Laughs] Yeah, it’s very hard. I think it’s about the first nine or 10 weeks of the NFL season, we’re racing almost right when the games start. The Panthers are based on the East Coast, and most of our races are on the East Coast, so the times don’t really line up. I’ll be watching the first 30 minutes of the game and then getting ready to go do my job; and then I catch all the highlights. Unless it’s an afternoon game, I’ve been able to catch the second half of the night games they’ve been having. So that’s nice, I can catch the ending of them. But you’re going to miss a big chunk of the game during the season … if not the whole game. That’s just the hard part. I go back and watch the rerun of the game to try not to read all of the statistics and highlights of the game, and try to watch it for myself before I get told what really happened.

SI: We did a story about you and your brother going to Super Bowl 50, and in there it mentions that your wife is a Seahawks fan. Is that difficult? Is there beef during the season?

TD: I think it’s pretty cordial during the season, but the Panthers actually play the Seahawks again this year … and I’m a pseudo Seahawks fan because of my wife and our family out there. I’ve been to a couple of Seahawks games myself. I was out there the Super Bowl that they won. So I enjoy both teams, but when it comes down to it, I’m a Panthers fan at heart. When they play each other, I’m wearing my Panthers gear and I want to see the Seahawks lose. But as soon as that game’s over, I’m back to cheering for both teams … that’s how it goes for me.

SI: What’s your favorite memory, either recent or from when you were a kid, of watching the Panthers play?

TD: I think the run they went on in 2015, going to the Super Bowl, was just so special. I was able to make it to a lot of those games that year, and just the energy that the crowd had … the team was dancing and winning by a lot. They kind of breezed their way to the Super Bowl and, unfortunately, lost the Super Bowl. But it was such a fun time to go to all the games; those were great memories. Recently, my wife and I have two kids, and we’ve managed to just get away, go to the game, enjoy the afternoon together and have a great experience at the stadium and just have a good time together. Any time we get to go to the stadium is fun. I am a very, very passionate fan of football in general and then a deeply passionate Panthers fan.

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SI: With your kids, I don’t know how old they are, but what team have they gravitated to?

TD: They’re just now getting old enough to understand football a little bit. My daughter is not really interested, she kind of likes it, but my son … he’s only two, but he’ll sit and watch the games with me. I don’t know if he knows the differences in the teams yet, but he loves football. He loves to sit and watch it—more than cartoons, he loves to sit and watch football. So that’s exciting to me, I’m looking forward to having that experience with him as he grows older and just being able to relate to such a fun hobby and fandom.

SI: You were at the last Super Bowl that the Panthers went to—what’s the craziest thing you’d do to guarantee a Panthers Super Bowl win either this season or in the near future?

TD: Oh man … craziest thing I would do? Maybe shave my head. [Laughs] Other than that, I don’t know. I would love to see them go back. They’re obviously kind of in a rebuilding point right now, the last couple of years have been tough, but I think they’re going to get it turned around pretty quick. I think Scott Fitterer, the GM, does a great job. He’s got a great plan. And I think this year is probably going to be challenging, obviously with the change in the coach and everything going on, but I think next year there’s going to be a lot of positivity.

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