(Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
The summer stretch has been nothing short of eventful for Todd Gilliland. As the NASCAR Cup Series rookie starts to revisit tracks entering the second half of the season, it is exciting to see hard work pay off for the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team.
Gilliland’s most recent stretch of races started at Talladega with a DNF and culminated 10 races later with a top 15 and two top-20 finishes to his name. Fans saw him battle fellow rookie, Harrison Burton, for the lead at Atlanta Motor Speedway and work his way back from being down a lap at Darlington Raceway to finish P15 and P16 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
He even took the Cup off weekend to jump back in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to run a dirt race and bring home a trophy on Father’s Day weekend!
In this volume of Terra Talks, we hear from Gilliland as he shares more about lessons learned on track, racing his long-time friend, and a unique stat where he ranks highest.
Terra Jones: We’ll kick things off with the Quarterly Question. Take us in the earbuds of Todd Gilliland. What do you like to listen to that gets you hyped on race day?
Todd Gilliland: Oh, that’s a tough one! I really like listening to all kinds of different music. I’ve been becoming more of a country music fan. But overall, I’m definitely still a Drake or rap guy, especially to get me pumped up like you said.
(Photo: Kathryne Porter | The Podium Finish)
Jones: Good deal! So I was looking at stats between you, Harrison Burton, and Austin Cindric. I noticed you lead the way in one very unique stat. Between the three of you, you have the highest percentage of laps completed so far this season. You have completed 97.6% of laps, Harrison is at 94.1%, and then Austin with 85.8%. What does a stat like that mean to you or feel like it says about you as a driver?
Gilliland: So, that’s one thing that I really set out at the beginning of the year. People always say, there’s so many laps in the Cup Series, so many race weekends and that’s a huge part of – finishing all the laps, especially as a rookie and especially in the Next Gen cars.
There’s so much to be learned and you learn a hundred percent more when you’re on the racetrack rather than just watching from the sidelines. That’s another thing too. Everyone said when the season started, “What are your goals? What are your expectations?” And to me, really, the only thing was to finish as many laps as possible.
So, that stat, that’s a good thing. I feel like we’ve done a good job. We haven’t had too many mechanical issues. We’ve finished some of them with damage, which, isn’t the best thing, but, overall, like you said, I think we’ve done a good job of finishing ’em out.
Jones: Definitely! I was so impressed when I saw that. I was like, “That’s about as close as you can get!”
Gilliland: Hopefully we can keep it up! We’re only halfway so that’ll be a tough one!
Jones: It will be exciting to see! And while I’m dishing out congrats, during the Cup off-weekend, you jumped in a Truck and won for your dad’s team at Knoxville! Congratulations on that as well! One of our writers, Nathan Solomon, wanted to know about the competitiveness of that series and what has changed since the end of 2021, when you were last in a truck.
Gilliland: Yeah, I think the Truck Series is super competitive. I ran there for four full-time years and I think it really got harder every single year while I was there. I think it is really tough. But to be able to go back there and win for my dad’s team! I think that’s just a big confidence booster for all of ’em, but especially me, being the one driving it.
And to win against…John Hunter ran a whole Cup season and ran really well and now wins a lot of races. Zane Smith, he jumped in the Cup car this year and did great. So, it’s all Cup caliber talent, whether now or in the future.
Jones: It was so awesome to see! Now, I’ll often hear on the scanner how or where you’re running compared to another driver. For example, at Charlotte, your spotter and crew chief were both comparing you to Kurt Busch. How is it decided who to compare you to each weekend?
Gilliland: I don’t really know! I feel like a lot of times, under caution, it’s about who we’re pitted around. Mainly because that’s the one thing that I’m not really used to or have done a really good job at this year. Pit road is really busy in the Cup Series. Every pit stall is occupied but in the Truck Series, you usually have a good opening in or out. So it’s important to know where those cars are running.
“So much happens during a normal Cup race, and then it goes 612 miles!” – Todd Gilliland on his first Coca-Cola 600. (Photo: Cody Porter | The Podium Finish)
Jones: Gotcha! I wasn’t sure if it was proximity on track or pit road or what! And continuing to speak of Charlotte, we’ve talked about the difference in the Cup schedule and the length of races compared to Trucks, but nothing in the series compares to the Coke 600. How did you prepare mentally for that event?
Gilliland: Oh man. Having it as my first Coke 600, I was nervous! You don’t really know how to prepare for it. I guess I’ve done maybe one 500 miler before that, but until you’ve done something and put it in the memory bank, you really don’t know how to prepare.
I was definitely nervous before the race! It’s just a long, long one. I remember being there and watching it and just being kind of exhausted (laughs) just being around the racetrack for that long. And then of course it goes to the longest ever in miles! I think. But it was really cool though. I love racing and so much happens during a normal Cup race, and then it goes 612 miles or whatever it ended up being!
Jones: Yes! I’ve been in attendance as a fan and felt like it would never end! (laughs) I can’t imagine being behind the wheel. Speaking of never-ending races, I’m sure Nashville felt like the day that would never end with multiple red flags for weather. How do you stay in the zone with those long delays?
Gilliland: I think it’s really nice in the Cup Series the amount of information you can get to during our rain delay, with all the SMT, all the data that you can look at. So for me, it’s pretty easy to stay locked in and even maybe be a step ahead when we go back.
That was nice for me at Nashville. We struggled at the beginning and then I felt like we got better after being able to talk to my team, my crew chief, and engineers about exactly what I’m feeling. On the radio, it gets so quick and heated that I feel like it’s easy to lose sight of what we’re actually fighting. So, it’s nice to sit down during a rain delay, especially in the lounge where it’s kind of a cooler space and easier to communicate.
(Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
Jones: That makes sense! And what about for fun? How do you and your crew kill time with multiple hours under red?
Gilliland: Like I said, I try and keep it all business during a rain delay. But, this weekend in Atlanta, when it rained out qualifying, we had really nothing to look at or talk about yet. We turned on Napoleon Dynamite!
Jones: (laughs) Oh my gosh!
Gilliland: (laughs) Yeh! I’ve never watched it! So that was the most fun thing we’ve done while waiting!
Jones: That’s so funny. I haven’t seen that in forever. But speaking of Atlanta, you got to race Harrison Burton for the lead. You mentioned in our first conversation how the two of you have kind of been in step with each other throughout your careers. How fun was that to race with him up front?
Gilliland: (laughs) It was really cool! We actually rode around in the truck together before the race too because we started next to each other and we were just joking around. Because I pushed him in the Truck Series at superspeedways and he was like, “Man, it’d be fun to tandem here today!” And then we ended up staying out and, like you said, we were in the lead of all things, running one, two for a few laps.
But man, it was really cool. I feel like we just have so much respect for each other and (laughs) it seems we’re always stuck next to each other, wherever – before the race, during the race, whatever. And, it’s just really fun. These are the things that are really cool to experience. And it’s kind of interesting to know someone’s going through the same stuff as me at the same time.
(Photo: Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)
Jones: Normally it’s the two drivers that have a beef on track that are stuck next to each other, so that is great to have that support and friendship. Just a few more for you. What would you say is your most difficult style of track to race?
Gilliland: This is a tough one because I feel like we raced so many, but I think these guys are just really good at the mile and a half race tracks – just being in the gas as much as possible. I feel like I’ve ran a lot of road courses and ran well. I really like superspeedways. I feel like that’s where I’ve ran almost the best at. And then, I love dirt racing, so, I don’t know. I feel like mile and a half tracks – there’s just so many and there’s definitely a lot of room to improve there.
Jones: Can you share a specific instance where you were behind or near a more veteran driver at an intermediate and attempted to learn from them?
Gilliland: (laughs) Well, I’m never behind them on purpose just to learn! But I think this kinda happens with my teammate, Michael McDowell, a bunch this year. Just anytime I’m behind him, I always try and learn the most I can, especially being in similar cars or even the same setup at times. It’s just really cool to see what these guys are able to do with the car.
Jones: And finally, you are halfway through the season. What is one thing you’ve learned in the first half of the season that you hope to apply to the second half?
Gilliland: I would say I feel like I need to communicate better throughout practice and unload at the racetrack better. And, like I said, I need to get in and out of my pit box better. So that’s a big one right now. I think that’ll be easy to improve on and definitely a really good one to focus on in the second half of the year.
Jones: It’ll be exciting to see that hard work pay off! It’s been neat to see you gain confidence on track throughout this season and to see some momentum build for you and the No. 38 team.
Gilliland: Thank you! I appreciate that!
As always, a huge thank you goes out to Todd Gilliland and his Public Relations Representative, Chris Murdock, for helping make this series possible. Be sure to keep up with all the latest Front Row Motorsports news via their social channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), and give Todd a follow on his channels as well (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
