NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview
Event: Overton’s 225, Race 11 of 23, 150 Laps – 35/35/80; 225 Miles
Location: Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. (1.5-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 29, 2018 at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Gilliland has no prior starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) at Chicagoland, but to gain extra track time, he will be competing in Thursday evening’s ARCA event for DGR-Crosley.
- This will be Gilliland’s third race on a mile-and-a-half track since turning 18 in May. He finished 10th at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May and sixth at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth earlier this month.
- Earned his best career finish in the NCWTS last weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill., when he jumped up to second place during a two-lap shootout on the final restart.
- In six NCWTS starts this season, Gilliland has one top-five, four top-10 finishes and has led 64 laps. He led a race-high 62 laps at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite only competing in six of the 10 races due to age restrictions, he currently ranks 13h in the Truck Series championship standings and is 111 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot.
Todd Gilliland, Driver Q&A
You earned your best career Truck Series finish at Gateway last weekend. Do you feel like your first win is getting closer?
“Yeah, I think anytime that you can run upfront and be in the top three all night that builds confidence in me and the team, so that’s what it’s about. Just being consistent and getting better every week, and I think we are definitely getting closer.”
How will running the ARCA race Thursday help you prepare for Friday’s NCWTS race?
“I think at this point it’s all about getting mile-and-half experience. It’s been a really great stretch here in the summer months to just race every weekend, so we’re keeping that up this weekend racing twice and hopefully we can just learn a little something new in the ARCA race that helps me in the truck race.”
Since you have never raced at Chicago, what have you been told about what to expect?
“I’ve heard some things that a lot of mile-and-half tracks aren’t real racy and you get kind of stuck behind people. I’ve heard Chicago is a really racy race track, so I think you will see a lot of grooves moving around. I guess we’ll see when we get there.”
Todd Gilliland Career Highlights
- Won this year’s season-opening NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race in January at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway and won again at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April
- Won a second consecutive NASCAR K&N Pro Series West championship in 2017 after recording six wins, seven poles, 937 laps le, 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes across 14 starts
- Ran six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races for KBM in 2017, scoring a career-best third-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon
- Crowned the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion after collecting six wins, six poles, 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes, making him the youngest champion in the history of any NASCAR national or touring series
Todd Gilliland’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-052: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team will race KBM-052, for Friday’s Overton’s 225 at Chicago. Gilliland raced this Tundra at Texas earlier this month where he finished sixth and led a race-high 62 laps. Kyle Busch debuted this truck at Kansas in May and finished second.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected four wins, 472 laps led, eight top-five and 14 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 7.9 across 18 starts at Chicago
- Kyle Busch has claimed all four wins for KBM (2010, 2013, 2014 & 2016) at the 1.5-mile oval and has led 344 of the team’s 472 laps
- After Gateway, the No. 4 team has two poles with David Gilliland (Daytona) and Kyle Busch (Atlanta), two top-five and five top-10 finishes and is ranked fifth in the owner’s championship standings
- KBM holds the NCWTS records for most career wins (67) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). In addition to collecting a series-record six Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers; Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
