Date: November 16, 2018
Event: NCWTS 200 (Race 23 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location: Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Format: Three Segments; 30 laps/30 laps/74 laps
Start/Finish: 15th / 13th (running, completed 134 of 134 laps)
Race Winner: Brett Moffitt of Hattori Racing (Toyota)
2018 Champion: Brett Moffitt of Hattori Racing (Toyota)
Todd Gilliland was hoping to finish the season with a win, but it wasn’t meant to be Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gilliland searched for speed throughout practice, qualifying and the race in his No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Tundra, but never found quite the right balance to fight his way to the front and contend for the win. He did gain valuable experience by running every lap and finishing 13th.
Stage One Recap:
- Gilliland started in 15th, and worked his way up to 12th when the first stage ended on lap 30.
- He pitted for four tires and fuel when the pits opened on lap 32.
Stage Two Recap:
- When Stage Two began Gilliland was in 11th place.
- During the restart the field checked up and he was hit from behind damaging the left-rear of his Tundra and falling back to 19th.
- He was 18th when the second stage ended and said the truck was loose.
- He pitted on lap 63 for four tires, fuel and adjustments.
Stage Three Recap:
- Gilliland restarted the final stage in 15th place.
- Without a caution in the final stage, the field began to cycle through green-flag pit stops by lap 100.
- Gilliland pitted on lap 100 for four tires and fuel to finish the race.
- He moved into 13th with 10 laps to go and finished the race there.
Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:
Talk about your race tonight:
“Our night was kind of up and down to an extent, but mainly down. I don’t know that we ever got into the top 10. Overall it was just a tough day. In qualifying we didn’t really have speed. We were a little bit on the free side. In the race we were just a little bit off, but at Homestead it makes a big difference on speed. I’d lose every spot I could on restarts and that didn’t help us either – I dug myself a bigger hole. It was just a really bad night on restarts. We got damage early on and we just need to be a little bit better next time.”
NCWTS 200 Recap:
- Brett Moffitt won the race and the championship followed by Grant Enfinger, KBM’s Noah Gragson Stewart Friesen and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race featured two cautions for a total of 12 laps. There were 10 lead changes among seven drivers. KBM’s Gragson led 34.
How Gilliland’s KBM Teammates Fared:
- Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 3rd
- Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 11th
NCWTS Championship Standings:
The No. 4 team finished the season 11th in the Truck Series Owner’s Championship Standings, while Gilliland was 10th in the Driver Championship Standings.