AUSTIN, Texas: A series of late-race cautions assisted Todd Gilliland in being able to secure his first top-10 of the NASCAR Cup Series season in Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
The Front Row Motorsports driver credited restarts in aiding him in his third career Cup Series top-10 finish and first since finishing seventh at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last October.
Gilliland said his No. 38 Ruedebusch Ford Mustang was best on the short runs which played into his wheelhouse in the final laps at COTA.
“The restarts were really good for us, even in the very beginning of the race,” Gilliland explained. “We were able to fire off and gain a lot of spots right off the bat. So, after that, we had fallen off a little worse than everyone else, but our fire-off speed was probably top-five to [top] 10 every time.”
In six races this season, Gilliland, the son of NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series owner and former Cup Series driver David Gilliland has averaged a finish of 22.0 this season, but with back-to-back top-15 finishes on the heels of a competitive 15th-place effort last Sunday at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway, Gilliland is hoping to build some momentum for the month of April.
“It was really nice to have some speed there, and to be really aggressive on the restarts,” added Gilliland. “Most of them worked out really well. I got spun once, but we were able to rebound up to 10th or so.
“That’s good – 15th and 10th the last two races. That’s something to build on.”
Heading to Richmond Raceway, Gilliland is 24th in the championship standings, 44 points behind the final cutoff spot for the Playoffs currently occupied by Corey LaJoie.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at: [email protected].
