Luck Runs Out For Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 JBL Tundra Team in the Irish Hills

Date:         Aug. 10, 2019

Event:         Corrigan Oil 200 (Race 16 of 23)

Series:        NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

Location:   Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (Two-mile oval)

Format: Three Segments; 20 laps/20 laps/60 laps

Start/Finish: 4^th/24^th (Accident, completed 98 of 105 laps)

Winner:      Austin Hill of Hattori Racing Enterprises (Toyota)

Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 JBL team had a top-five run spoiled by a late-race accident at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. In two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series practice sessions on Friday, Gilliland posted the 10th-fastest lap in the first practice and was 16th-fastest in final practice. In one round of single-truck qualifying on Saturday morning, Gilliland earned the fourth starting spot for the Corrigan Oil 200.

Saturday afternoon, entering the race in a must-win situation for the NASCAR Playoffs, Gilliland was strong through Stages One and Two, despite a penalty after the first pit stop. In the third stage, he led for 14 laps. With two laps remaining in the scheduled distance, Gilliland was poised to make a final run for the win when he was caught up in a multi-truck wreck and forced to retire from the race.

Stage One Recap:

• On Saturday morning, in one lap of single-truck qualifying, Gilliland qualified the No. 4 JBL Toyota Tundra in the fourth position.
• As the green flag flew on Saturday afternoon, Gilliland jumped into the second position.
• The driver expressed that his Tundra was tight, but he finished the first stage in fifth.
• Following the first stage, crew chief Wes Ward brought the No. 4 JBL Tundra to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments.

Stage Two Recap:

• Gilliland began the second 20-lap stage in 13^th, after receiving a penalty on the first pit stop for a crew member over the wall too soon.
• The young driver steadily climbed back into the top-10, and finished the second stage in eighth, reporting that his truck was much better.
• Ward opted for a fuel-only pit stop following the second stage.

Stage Three Recap

• The teenage driver began the final stage in the sixth position.
• On lap 62, Gilliland powered the No. 4 JBL Tundra to the lead and he continued to lead until lap 75 when he was shuffled out of the front of the pack.
• Ward brought the young driver to pit road for left side tires under a caution flag with 13 to go in the final stage, in hopes of helping the handling. Gilliland would restart in 17^th.
• With two laps to go in the scheduled distance, Gilliland was working his way back toward the front of the pack, and had made it as high as seventh when he was collected in a multi-vehicle incident, effectively ending his day and his playoff hopes.

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 JBL Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:

What happened?

“Today was an up and down race. We qualified better than I expected, and pretty much our JBL Tundra handled better than it did yesterday the whole race. Just battled really, really loose from the time I turned off the wall all the way to the center, and then from the center to the exit wall I was too tight. We made a lot of adjustments to tighten it up, but it mainly just hurt my exit and didn’t help my entry to center. It’s just going to be about being smooth from here on out, there’s still seven races left and someone’s got to win all of them, and we need to shift our focus to that and keep taking the positives about every week.”

Corrigan Oil 200 Recap:

• Austin Hill won the race with Sheldon Creed, Tyler Dippel, Brett Moffitt and Austin Wayne Self rounding out the top-five finishers.
• The race featured 8 cautions for 35 laps and 17 lead change among 10 drivers.

How Gilliland’s KBM Teammates Fared:

Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 18 Toyota Tundra, finished 11^th

Christian Eckes, driver of the No. 51 Toyota Tundra, finished 15^th

NGOTS Championship Standings:

Gilliland finished the regular season seventh in the point standings. Following the points reset for the Playoffs, Gilliland and the No. 4 team rank 11th in the Gander Trucks Driver Championship Standings following the 16th race of the season, and have been eliminated from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs.

Next Race:

Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team will return on Thursday, August 15 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Live coverage of the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics begins at 8:30 p.m. EST on FS1.