Date: June 29, 2018
Event: Overton’s 225 (Race 11 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. (1.5-mile oval)
Format: Three Segments; 35 laps/35 laps/80 laps
Start/Finish: 4th / 16th (running, completed 148 of 150 laps)
Winner: Brett Moffitt of Hattori Racing (Toyota)
Todd Gilliland had never raced at Chicagoland Speedway until Thursday night’s ARCA Racing Series event when he finished third. He took what he learned from that race and applied everything he could to his No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra on Friday night for the 150-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. He was running third with 12 laps remaining when he brushed the outside wall, which flattened his right-rear tire. The extra pit stop late in the race left him two laps down in 16th place.
Stage One Recap:
- Gilliland started fourth in the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra.
- The truck was a bit loose, but he finished the first 35-lap stage in sixth place.
- He pitted for four tires and a wedge adjustment during his first stop on lap 38.
Stage Two Recap:
- Gilliland started the next 35-lap stage from ninth place.
- Halfway through the run he told his crew chief, Marcus Richmond that the truck fired off very tight, then got better, but then became loose again. Owner Kyle Busch was on the radio telling Gilliland that based off his experience at Chicago, there was never a happy medium. He would always be either loose, or tight.
- When the stage ended on lap 70, Gilliland was eighth. He pitted for four tires and to add more wedge.
Stage Three Recap:
- Gilliland started the final 80-lap stage in ninth place.
- With 50 laps to go, he told the team his Mobil 1 Tundra was “plowing tight.”
- A caution on lap 122 allowed him to pit for four new tires and a track bar adjustment to help his Tundra. With a quick stop, he restarted the race in fifth place.
- On the restart with 25 laps to go, Gilliland raced up to third place. While running in the top three, he brushed the outside wall with 12 laps remaining, which caused the right-rear tire to go down.
- Having to stop for right-side tires caused him to lose two laps to the lead trucks. With nobody else on his lap to race for position, Gilliland finished 16th.
Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:
Talk about your race:
“We started the race pretty far off on set-up and speed, but I’m really proud of how we were able to make really good adjustments on pit stops and get good restarts. I think we were probably going to finish fourth tonight in our Mobil 1 Tundra. It’s all about finishing these races so there was no need to do what I did right there at the end to put ourselves in that position. There is nothing we can do now but learn from it and move on to the next race at Kentucky.”
Overton’s 225 Recap:
- Brett Moffitt won his third race of the season followed by Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, KBM’s Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race featured six cautions for a total of 29 laps. There were 17 lead changes among six drivers. KBM’s Noah Gragson led 42 laps.
How Gilliland’s KBM Teammates Fared:
- Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 4th
- Brandon Jones, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 5th
NCWTS Owner Championship Standings:
The No. 4 team remains fifth in the Truck Series Owner’s Championship Standings, 129 points out of first. Gilliland is 13th in the Driver Championship Standings, 124 points out of eighth place which is the final cutoff for the playoffs.
Next Race:
The Truck Series returns to action Thursday, July 12 at Kentucky Speedway. Live coverage of the race begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
