LAS VEGAS, Nev.: Make no mistake about it: Todd Gilliland has undoubtedly captured the attention of the NASCAR Cup Series garage in the last two weeks.
The Front Row Motorsports driver leads all drivers in the laps-led category with 16 laps led in the season-opening Daytona 500 and an impressive number of 58 last weekend at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway for a total of 74.
Unfortunately, Gilliland’s speed aboard his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse has not transitioned into results after finishing 35th after being swept into a late-race accident at Daytona.
Last weekend, in one of the most thrilling NASCAR Cup Series in recent memory, Gilliand’s hope for his first Cup Series win went out the window when he had to pit late for a flat tire. The late race hardship cost him four laps on the track and a frustrating 26th-place finish at the checkered flag after starting fourth.
Gilliland, however, the third-generation driver, remains upbeat about Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway – focused on delivering a strong result and collecting much-needed race points.
“I think it’s definitely bittersweet,” said Gilliland. “We definitely could have come out of here with absolutely no positives, so it’s still really nice to be leading laps led. Obviously, we need to start adding up the points, but this is speed like I’ve never had before in the Cup Series, regardless of the racetrack, even though they’ve both been superspeedway type races.
“That’s still exciting for me, and it’s definitely gonna be interesting to see where we stack up this weekend.”
Sitting 30th in points after two races, Gilliland relies on the positives to carry him forward to this weekend, where he hopes to deliver his seventh career Cup Series top-10 performance.
“There’s definitely no hiding it,” explained Gilliland. “We are in a hole in points, but at the same time, I think Joey Logano is right behind me. I think Keselowski is right there, and those are guys that you know are gonna be up there and probably most likely in the playoffs by the end of the season.
“Obviously, it’s bigger for us as maybe a smaller team to rack up the points as quickly as you can because you never know when the opportunities are gonna stop coming up. Overall, I’m just trying to take the positives out of it.
“I think this is definitely the most I’ve ever raced around the sport’s best drivers for the last couple of weeks, and hopefully, I have a long career ahead of us. Obviously, we need to get points right now, but any of these high spots are obviously gonna help me moving forward also.”
Despite the average finish of 30.5 so far in 2024, confidence is not something that Gilliland is lacking.
“It’s super exciting for me,” Gilliland said. “As still a youngerish guy that is still trying to find my way and make a name for myself, racing against the best of the best is just a huge confidence booster for myself. I think I can do it and expect myself to be able to run well in those positions, but you never know what the other guys or the industry is gonna think of yourself when you’re up there, so, for me, it’s been really awesome and just have to put those experiences in the memory bank.
“This is a huge confidence sport. Like when we unload at Vegas, I’m gonna need to be very confident in my car to go almost wide-open around that place from lap one, so it definitely carries over, and even if it’s not so much as the on-track results,
“I think even if it’s our race team, we have mostly new mechanics and a new car chief. I really think the expectation of our team this year, even if it’s through the first two races, is that we’ve seen the potential of what we can do at these types of racetracks, and that needs to be the expectation going forward. It’s confidence-inducing for me as well as my whole team.”
Knowing that his Front Row Motorsports team’s new technical relationship with Team Penske is already paying off with plenty of speed, Gilliland is adamant that there remain several unknowns about the race because of the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse vehicle, which will endure its actual first mile and a half test on Sunday afternoon.
“I am very curious about everything,” sounded Gilliland. “I think there’s tons of stuff that is very unknown, whether it’s the other manufacturer’s body. Obviously, the Dark Horse Mustang has been super fast the first couple of weeks, so I feel confident about where we’re at, but it’s just about where we stack up with everybody else. I think that goes for everyone in the field, honestly. Everyone feels good about where they’re at, so we’ll see.
“From our side, the team side, I’m excited to see where our preparation is at, where we unload and our potential speed is at. There are lots of unknowns. Even our pit crew. It’s been kind of easy the first couple weeks as far as a lot of fuel only, a lot of two tires, where this is really gonna be something that separates the field also is pit crews going from here on out, so there’s tons of different layers that are gonna be exposed, so I’m just excited to see where it all kind of stacks up.”
Gilliland’s weekend, however, didn’t get off to the hottest start. Early in his practice run at Las Vegas, Gilliland made contact with the Turn 2 wall and suffered damage to his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
