NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Overview
Event: Lucas Oil 150 (Race 22 of 23), 150 Laps –45/45/60; 150 Miles
Location: ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. (1-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: Nov. 8, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM team will roll into ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. this weekend for the penultimate race of the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series season. The young driver has two starts with one top-10 finish in the Truck Series at ISM Raceway. In 2015 at the age of 15, Gilliland entered and won his first K&N Pro Series West race at ISM Raceway, before going on to win the championship in that series in 2016 and 2017.
- The No. 4 team will be riding momentum from Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where Gilliland earned his first career series win in his 46th start. Despite heavy damage from an earlier wreck, the talented teenager took the lead with 10 laps remaining and never looked back, claiming the clock with his beaten and battered No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra.
- Wes Ward, who has served as shop foreman at KBM since 2015, moves over to the role of full-time crew chief and will be atop the box for Gilliland for the remainder of the 2019 season. Ward is a veteran crew chief with more than 300 Xfinity Series races on his resume, as well as 25 Gander Trucks races with three victories. Ward’s drivers have three Truck Series starts, 13 NXS starts and one Monster Energy Cup Series start at ISM Raceway.
- Voting for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series has begun. To cast your vote for Gilliland, go to www.nascar.com/ganderoutdoorsmostpopulardriver Follow and show your support with hashtag #Vote4Todd
- JBL will adorn the hood of the No. 4 Tundra. JBL creates the amazing sound that shapes life’s most epic moments. From iconic events like Woodstock and concerts at Madison Square Garden, to games at Yankee Stadium and weekend road trips, JBL elevates listeners’ experiences with award-winning audio that lets them make the most of every moment. With unmatched professional credentials and over 70 years of delivering industry leading innovation, JBL is the authority in engineering superior sound. JBL is part of the HARMAN portfolio of brands admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. HARMAN designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. In 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
How much momentum does your win at Martinsville give your team going into the final two races of the season?
Overall attitude, excitement to go back to the race track is definitely higher after Martinsville. I think it’s always a good thing – like everyone says, winning helps everything. I think the last two tracks are certainly somewhere we can contend at. We’ve had a strong last three races. I think we finished fifth at Vegas, second at Talladega and won Martinsville. I think things are definitely going in the right direction, so we just need to keep it up.
You won your first K&N race here in 2015, does that give you a little extra confidence boost going into this weekend?
I’ve always had confidence going back there, but I’ve just never run really good in the truck there. I guess it’s just another race track. There’s nothing really hard about it, just getting the truck to drive good and comfortable at the same time. Hopefully we can repeat that K&N win and get back to victory lane.
Todd Gilliland Career Highlights
- In 46 career Gander Trucks starts, has collected one win, two poles, 12 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes and led 279 laps. Gilliland earned his first Gander Trucks win at Martinsville Speedway in October of 2019, one year after earning his first career pole in the same race.
- Has posted two wins, two poles, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 5.6 across nine career ARCA Racing Series starts. He became the youngest winner in series history with his victory at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway two days after his 15th birthday in May of 2015 and his most recent win came at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on May 3, 2019.
- 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. Won a second consecutive 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.
- In 24 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts has accumulated seven wins, two poles, 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 4.5. His most recent victory came at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April of 2018.
Todd Gilliland’s No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM Tundra:
KBM-041: The No. 4 JBL/SiriusXM team will unload chassis KBM-041 this week. This chassis has 12 starts, with one win by Kyle Busch at Chicagoland Speedway in 2016. It was most recently used by Gilliland at Michigan International Speedway earlier this season.
KBM Notes of Interest
- In 24 starts at ISM Raceway, KBM drivers have five wins and five poles, including five poles in the last five years at the one-mile facility. They’ve led 876 laps and recorded nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes, resulting in an average finish of 10.2 and an average starting position of 6.2.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch earned the first ISM Raceway victory for KBM in 2011, while Brian Scott won in 2012, Erik Jones won in both 2013 and 2014 and Daniel Suarez earned the organization’s most recent victory in 2016.
- KBM has claimed the pole position for every Truck Series race at ISM Raceway since 2014.
- KBM holds the Gander Truck Series records for most career wins (75) 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).
