NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview
Event: PPG 400, Race 8 of 23, 167 Laps – 40/40/87; 250.5 Miles
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 8, 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 at Texas, but he did spend two days testing there for his second start on an intermediate track. He earned a top-10 finish in his first mile-and-a-half start at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May.
- Gilliland will continue the Texas Motor Speedway tradition of celebrating his high school graduation during pre-race festivities on Friday evening. Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) drivers Noah Gragson and Erik Jones both previously donned a cap and gown to do the graduation walk across the pre-race stage with “Dean of Motorsports” and track president, Eddie Gossage.
- In three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) starts this season, Gilliland has two top-10 finishes and led one lap at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March.
- Gilliland competed in six races in 2017, posting a pair of top-five and three top-10 finishes. He had a best finish of third at New Hampshire and crossed the line fifth at Martinsville in the fall.
Todd Gilliland, Driver Q&A
Having tested at Texas, how much will that help you get up to speed faster during practice on Thursday?
“I think overall it gave me a lot more confidence just being able to work with my team, especially on a mile-and-a-half race track. Going forward this was a really good test for us. Laps at any race track are going to be a positive, so I’m really excited to get on track at Texas.”
What did you think of racing on 1.5-mile tracks after your first start at Charlotte last month?
“I think it was a little different than I expected. I made a lot of mistakes and just didn’t quite know what I needed in the race car to be fast in the race, but hopefully we can learn from that experience. Our test at Texas went really well, so we’re just trying to build on it every week.”
Are you looking forward to doing your graduation walk Friday evening during pre-race events?
“It should be fun. I know my family is looking forward to it a lot more than me, but we’ve got a lot of people coming out so it should be a really cool deal.”
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 led, 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
Todd Gilliland’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-052: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team will race KBM-052, for Friday’s Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch finished second with this Tundra in its debut at Kansas Speedway in May.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected five wins, two poles, 566 laps led, 11 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.1 across 35 starts in the Lone Star state
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected two of his team’s wins (2010 & 2014), Erik Jones earned the victory in November 2015, William Byron took the checkered flag in June 2016 and Christopher Bell went to Victory Lane in June 2017
- After Charlotte, the No. 4 team has two poles with David Gilliland (Daytona) and Kyle Busch (Atlanta), one top-five and three 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).
