It’s time for a quarterly sitdown with NASCAR Cup Series rookie, Todd Gilliland. (Image: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
Nine races into the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, rookie Todd Gilliland is starting to look more and more seasoned behind the wheel.
The Front Row Motorsports driver has finished in the top 10 four times, but that only shows a portion of the hard work from the Cup Rookie and his No. 38 team.
Daytona International Speedway saw the 21-year-old sitting in the top five in practice times along with veterans of the sport, Michael McDowell and David Ragan. He returned to Circuit of the Americas, the site of his last NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win, and finished the day P16.
Gilliland went on to have a solid qualifying effort at Martinsville Speedway where he advanced to the final round and started the short track P10. Then, in the only dirt race for the Cup Series, Gilliland ran inside the top-five and top-10 during the practice sessions, then worked hard after a spin to finish just outside the top 15.
For our second conversation of the season, we reflected on the start of his rookie season and highlighted some specific moments from the first stretch of the schedule.
“The field’s so, so deep!” But Todd Gilliland is using every opportunity, on and off the track, to learn more. (Image: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Terra Jones: Before we look closer at some races this season, I wanted to start with a few “Rookie Reflections.” What has been the hardest adjustment for you in moving to the Cup Series?
Todd Gilliland: I think there are two things off the top of my head. I think the first one, the lesser of them, is the competition level. I think that’s something I was prepared for. But also, you’re never really prepared until you actually do it. There are times I’m racing around 20th place and around really, really good cars. I think every time it’s happened to me, when I get passed by a good car, I’m like, “Damn! The field’s so, so deep!” It’s crazy tough to move up.
But I think really, the hardest thing has been the schedule. You always hear people say it’s a grind. It’s this, it’s that. I was like, “Man, that’s probably the least of my worries!” But, that was probably the hardest, just going from Daytona…In the Trucks, we got a pretty long break where you could focus everything on Daytona and then you kinda have a few more weeks of focus on the real season.
Now, it’s straight to the West Coast Swing. And that’s like the hardest stretch of races, I’m pretty sure, of the whole schedule. But it’s been fun to learn!
Jones: I had a feeling the schedule would be part of that answer. It’s so different, and so much more demanding than the Truck schedule! Now what has been the biggest surprise when it comes to the Cup Series?
Gilliland: Oh man. Just how many more resources are available. We have SMT, a lot of support from Ford…there’s so much data to look at. It’s so crazy the amount of information you can get as a driver in the Cup Series. So I think that’s been the most surprising part. And obviously, we’ve got engineers and people who are super smart who can go through it all and help me understand it. But, the amount of information is crazy.
Jones: That really is incredible! Now, you have a long-time veteran of the sport in your teammate, Michael McDowell. In what ways has he helped you get acclimated to the Cup Series?
Gilliland: I feel like he’s helped me in every way! I think that’s one of the coolest things. Like, we were leaving our meeting today and he’s cracking me up. I feel like he’s so different than me. He’s always just pushing and asking. I always say he asks the hard-hitting questions, putting people on the spot. And I feel like you have to do that sometimes, really push and poke people to go faster, work harder. So, it’s been super cool to learn from him.
I think the biggest way he’s helped me is just… even at the first test, he’s like, “Just be yourself. I’ve seen you race. I feel like you’ve always done a good job. So don’t change anything. Just be yourself.” I think that’s been the coolest thing. He’s always just been there, “Dude. You’re going to do a good job!” Just giving me that confidence. But, it’s been awesome. I hope that I can get a little faster and I can end up helping him by the end of the season a little bit too!
Jones: That’s so great to hear, and I’m sure, very encouraging as you navigate the Cup Series waters. Have you had, we’ll call it a Rookie Moment? Something that one day you can maybe look back and laugh about, but right now, it’s more, “Why did I do that?”
Gilliland: Ohhhh! I’ve got a lot of those moments for sure! (laughs)
Jones: (laughs) How much time do you have?
Gilliland: I know, right! Well, I think the one that really sticks out to me is probably Atlanta. I’d gotten in a wreck. I kind of just drove into it. It’s kind of a bad situation to start with. And then, we ran as long as we could. We had to pit under green and then I was a lap car and Atlanta’s a pack race now, pretty much. Me and Michael were running with each other because we had the same strategy going on at that point. There’s a huge pack coming behind us. We were both laps down. And then I pulled up in front of the pack. I thought we were both going to the top – it was just a lack of communication, and just really just a bad decision on my part.
But, that was definitely one of those moments. As soon as I did it, I was like, “Oh no. What did I just do?” And it ended up being bad and I wrecked. But, I guess that’s just one of the times you have to move on. It’s never fun to make the rookie mistakes, but the biggest thing is that I learn from them.
Jones: That’s right! Let’s shift gears and look at some of the races so far. You had great practice times at Daytona and led the way on the 10 consecutive lap averages chart, but then there were issues in pre-race inspection that sent you to the rear for the start of the race. How in the loop are you with those updates? In other words, how do you find out there were tech issues?
Gilliland: Yeah, that’s another thing that’s actually really hard about the Cup Series – the whole technical inspection. In the Truck Series, they’re all templates, so it’s more of an official saying yes or no. Obviously, they’re doing every truck, so they know if it’s okay to race or not, but in the Cup Series, it’s done more by machine, by the laser inspection.
(Image: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
So I feel like that’s something I’ve been learning too, is that tech is honestly – it’s hard. Like you roll up into the Hawkeye and then you roll out – then my team doesn’t give much emotion! (laughs) I’m like, did we pass or not? So I always try to roll through tech with them just to kind of learn the whole process, you know? I definitely try and be pretty involved.
Jones: Gotcha! I’ve been around the inspection area in the garage and see a handful of crew chiefs, but not really drivers. I wasn’t sure if that information was passed to you in a text or a meeting? Or if you find out from Bob on Twitter just like everyone else. (laughs)
Gilliland: (laughs) Right? No! The other day at Martinsville, we hadn’t made it through tech yet when I left the track and I was like, oh, no! Things weren’t going well when I left and I was waiting for Bob’s tweet. Luckily, we weren’t on it!
Jones: (laughs) Good! That’s too funny. You mentioned in our initial interview that you were most looking forward to racing at Auto Club Speedway. You finished the day P20. Was it everything you’d thought it would be? Did you have fun there?
Gilliland: I had a lot of fun – by the end of the race. I have never been thrown by such a loop as that racetrack. People always said it would be hard, and I was like, “Nah, it’ll be fun!” But it definitely taught me a lot. That’s a tough, tough race in the Next Gen car. Everyone kept wrecking and that just made me even more nervous during practice and qualifying.
So, I was just super nervous the whole time, but like I said, I feel like I learned and figured out the track. We made our car better by the end of the race. And, I got a little bit better handle on it. But the track is definitely super fun!
Jones: And this wasn’t on my list of questions, but I think that was the same race where Michael’s engine blew, right? Is that ever concerning to you as a teammate? Do you start over-analyzing every sound? Every feeling?
Gilliland: Yeah, so Auto Club, he actually had an electrical fire in the dash.
Jones: That’s right!
Gilliland: Yeah! It was crazy. I think you always try and pay attention to it. But no, as far as all that stuff, I feel like our teams prepare so well. There’s definitely always room for improvement. And those are the things we always talk about that you hate to see happen…it always sucks to have that. I hated to see it for him, but I don’t feel like that really gives us a better chance of having an issue or anything like that.
Jones: Moving to Phoenix, your team burned the midnight oil and worked throughout the night to make your car race-day ready. How hands-on are you with those changes?
Gilliland: No, I was definitely trying to be really involved. It’s crazy to talk about this, but I just feel like it’s all so different. With the engineers, there’s so much more simulation work than in Trucks. In Trucks, we just kind of talked about it, and then your team makes the decision based on experience, what they think will happen, and what we’ve been through.
Well, in the Cup Series, I tell the engineers what I feel in the car, then they can pretty much run laps on the simulator. Some tracks are probably more realistic than others, and I think that’s the number one issue every team finds. If the simulation was a hundred percent correct, you could make the car perfect on there and it’d be perfect for the racetrack. I think that’s the other interesting part. And, that’s the part I don’t really understand – the simulation! So I leave that to my engineers, but then, they come back with what they think and we all kind of talk about it and make the final decision together.
Jones: Good deal. I figured that kind of varied from driver to driver. Let’s move on to COTA. How much confidence did last season’s Truck Series win there give you heading into that race in Cup?
Todd Gilliland tries to be involved in all aspects the race weekend. (Image: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
Gilliland: Oh, it was really nice. We kind of talked about the opposite end of the spectrum at Fontana when we went there and I had no experience. I felt really lost out there. (laughs) But then, you go to a place like COTA where I feel like I can almost run the place with my eyes closed by now. It’s super nice to have the confidence, and at least one of the variables checked. Cause right now for me, I’m still going to these tracks for the first time in the Next Gen car. So I’m trying to learn the car still, trying to communicate with my team the best I can, and a lot of times, maybe learn the race track too.
So to take the race track part out of that is super nice. And I think it honestly gives my team confidence to go into a place where they feel like we can compete. It helps confidence throughout the whole building.
Jones: Oh, I bet! Now, you had quite the weekend at Bristol. When Jamie Little was interviewing you during the rain delay, she mentioned that you had quite a bit of experience on dirt. So, minus all the rain, do you feel that the changes NASCAR made improved the racing conditions for you as a driver?
Gilliland: Absolutely! Yes. I think every single person that watched or was at Bristol thought it was way better this year. I think the track was more racy. We still had some issues early on with the mud, but it’s so hard. It was raining right before the race. And then obviously everyone probably saw the issues of rain during the race.
But I think that was out of the control of the track and track prep crew. I think overall, yeah, the racing was awesome. In practice, we were running right up by the wall. And then it seemed like you kind of moved down. So it was just, it was awesome! I thought the race track was so much fun. I’ve always enjoyed dirt racing a lot. So yeah! I think it put on a great race.
No matter the racing surface, you can tell Todd Gilliland is enjoying life in the NASCAR Cup Series. (Image: Ryan Daley | The Podium Finish)
Jones: What do you think could be done to improve it even more?
Gilliland: I mean, we haven’t even been dealt a fair chance at it really, you know, with the rain at Bristol the last two years! I feel like that’s the hardest part. Weather is always going to be unpredictable. But, I think we saw how good the crew did this weekend. But, if we got a fair shot, the track would have been 10 times more racy for the Cup race.
But also, I don’t think dirt could be limited to just Bristol. There’s so many good dirt tracks out there that operate every single weekend and have so much experience. So personally, I love dirt on Bristol, but, also I think there’s so many other great dirt tracks out there that could put on a great race.
Jones: That’s where I am with it as well. Okay, we’ll wrap up with our Quarterly Question. It will center around Martinsville weekend. Fans need to know: How many Martinsville Hot Dogs did you have?
Gilliland: (laughs) I only had one hot dog and I’m honestly disappointed in myself! I love a good chili dog from Martinsville. I tried to get another one but something happened. Oh yeah! It rained right before the Cup race. I went to get one, but the line was super, super long. That’s the other thing I need to get used to! (laughs) At the Cup races, there are so many people!
Jones: You’ll have to work on adjusting the schedule for the fall race to accommodate for that!
Gilliland: That’s right!
Thank you to Todd Gilliland for taking the time to talk once again for the Terra Talks series! Be sure to follow him across his social channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for all the latest news. A huge thank you goes out to his Public Relations Representative, Chris Murdock, as well. Be sure to get up with all the latest Front Row Motorsports news on their channels as well (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
