There’s no question that NASCAR Next driver Todd Gilliland and NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion had a remarkable 2016 season.
Next year, he’ll look to double the pleasure and win two more championships – in the same season.
Thanks to a procedural change by NASCAR in how it will score the annual K&N Pro Series East and West combination race at Iowa Speedway, it is now possible for drivers to compete for the respective titles in the same season and the son of NASCAR driver David Gilliland plans to make the best of the amended rule.
Bill McAnally Racing, the home that saw Gilliland soar to a season-high six wins announced Thursday that the 16-year-old would run full schedules in both K&N series in 2017.
“This is a great opportunity to take the next step in my racing career,” Todd Gilliland said in a statement. “We want to build on the success we had in the 2016 season.
“It’s a big move to compete for points in both divisions. I look forward to the challenge and I’m thankful to BMR, NAPA, Toyota and our other great partners for making this happen.”
At 16 years, five months old, Gilliland became the youngest series champion in NASCAR history. In addition to his whopping six victories, the Riverside, Calif. native mounted 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 14 races. The teenager also won the season-opening K&N East division event at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway this past February in dynamic fashion.
In addition to being the youngest champion in the series, Gilliland holds the record as the youngest race winner in the series. At the age of 15 years 5 months 28 days, he won his series debut at Phoenix in the season finale for 2015.
“We had a remarkable year with Todd in his rookie season,” said BMR president Bill McAnally, who netted a record seven K&N West championship as a car owner in 2016. “Expanding our program to take on both divisions is aimed at continuing his development.”
In 15 races K&N West races overall, Gilliland has won nearly half of them with seven. While averaging a finishing position of 4.0 this season, he led 564 laps in 11 events.
Like this season, the third-generation driver will continue to be backed by NAPA Auto Parts and Toyota in 2017.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series isn’t the only place where Gilliland boasts records. Gilliland is also the youngest winner in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). Gilliland has two career ARCA starts in 2015 driving for the potent Venturini Motorsports. He won in his series debut at Toledo Speedway edging Tom Hessert III, two days after his 15th birthday.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
