Ty Dillon, who recently explained his reasons for leaving Richard Childress Racing, is enjoying a Cinderella Story season thanks to his run in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, where he’s gone from the lowest-seeded driver to reach the Championship Round at Indianapolis.

But it hasn’t all been fun and games. Prior to the start of the Challenge, the Cup Series traveled south of the border for the first points-scoring race outside of the U.S. since 1958. The Viva Mexico 250 proved a challenging race for many, including the 33-year-old driver of the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, as health issues took hold.

However, Dillon’s rough experience in Mexico City wasn’t anything to do with his trip, as he recently explained in an interview with The Athletic. “I did it in reverse order — I had the stomach flu Wednesday night, the night before we flew out,” he explained.

“I actually got sick in the airport while we were all sitting at the terminal at Charlotte Douglas. I was still going through the full motions of the stomach bug — coming out both ends.”

Dillon described his 14-hour journey from Charlotte to Mexico City as “very miserable,” although he was able to sleep the majority of that night. Unfortunately, things took a turn the following day, explaining, “In practice, I was finally hungry and made a really bad decision: I had the tacos they had made for everybody in the garage (from local restaurant Tacos Atarantados).

“The tacos were amazing, but my stomach was still messed up. So I was in the car, and that was the first time I felt like, ‘I’m gonna make a mess inside the car.’ I just didn’t know what side it was going to come out of.”

Reflecting on his choice of food, Dillon admitted that while they were the best tacos he’d ever had, they may not have been worth the trouble come race day.

“I went back the next day and got them. And I got them Sunday, too,” he said. “So I would not pass on those tacos again. It wasn’t worth the feeling I had inside the race car, but the tacos were worth it. They did not deter me after that.”

After qualifying 28th out of 37, Dillon wound up finishing 33rd in Mexico City, marking the first of two consecutive 33rd-place finishes he’d pick up (including Pocono) before his excellent eighth in Atlanta in the opening round of the Challenge.

But it wasn’t just Dillon who was suffering in the Mexican capital city, with RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski revealing on social media after Pocono, “Most all of the drivers are still sick and dehydrated from last week. I’ve never seen so many sick drivers before the start of the race.”

This included race winner Shane van Gisbergen in the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, who told Amazon Prime following the checkered flag, “I’ve really enjoyed myself here. I felt pretty rubbish today, leaking out both holes. That wasn’t fun.”

Now long removed from a tough trip to Mexico City, Dillon will be looking to best Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 on Sunday at the Brickyard 400, with $1 million set to go to the winning team to be divided accordingly.