Dillon McCowan had an up and down World 100 weekend at Eldora Speedway that ended with him making the “Granddaddy of Them All” and bringing home a 17th place finish. 

On Thursday night, McCowan qualified 23rd in Group B, advanced two spots in his Shootout to finish 6th and then finished 17th in Feature 2. Friday night was more challenging. He qualified 35th and then finished one spot out of a transfer in 9th after moving up three spots from his 12th starting position.

McCowan missed the 6-car invert and started 9th in Heat 6. He then advanced five positions to finish fourth, but was one spot shy of locking himself into the World 100. Nevertheless, that fourth place finish set him up with a third place starting position in the second B-Main. He took full advantage of his hard-work and advanced one more spot to finish in second to lock himself in to his first ever World 100.

During the 100-lap Crown Jewel race, McCowan advanced seven positions from his 24th starting position to finish 17th.

McCowan spoke with StockCarReport.com following the race and discussed just how difficult and wild it was, “Man, it’s so crazy out here. There’s so much competition. It’s unreal. It’s a blessing to even make the race or be in position to be able to make the race.”

As far as how tough it is to make the show, McCowan explained, “It’s something you have to come experience is what I would tell anybody. I never would’ve thought I would’ve made my first World 100. It went a lot better than the last time we were here. So hopefully the next time is better. It’s so crazy. We went from being ninth in the heat race, didn’t think we was going to make it, to starting front row of a B-Main after Madden got into the wall. Luck is the main thing here. If you’re lucky, it’ll take you all the way to the front, but if you’re unlucky you’d be wishing you was anywhere else. We just got fortunate.”

“There’s 102 cars here and at least 85 of them could be in the front of the race. It’s tough. I heard somebody one time say, ‘It’s tougher to make the race than it is to win it.’ I don’t know how much truth there is to that, but I know it’s plenty hard to make it,” he added.

McCowan made the most of not only making the race, but he also accomplished his secondary goal of completing all 100 laps.

“It was a lot of fun out there, getting to run 100 laps,” he said. “Was a little tight so that made it kind of a bear, but I just wanted to make sure to finish the full 100. That was my main goal. No matter where we finished, if it was dead last or inside the top 10, I wanted to finish the whole 100 and get those laps under my belt and kinda go from there.”

NEXT: Ryan Gustin Reacts After Heartbreaking Finish To His World 100