NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Overview
Event: UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Race 17 of 23), 200 Laps – 55/55/90; 100.6 Miles
Location: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: Aug. 15, 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 Mobil 1 team will roll into Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway this Thursday with one goal, win. Gilliland has one NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series start at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile in 2018 with a fifth-place finish. In three K&N East starts at the facility, Gilliland has one win, one top-five and three top-10 finishes, resulting in an average finishing position of 6.0.
- Last weekend, at Michigan, Gilliland led 14 laps and even after going to the back of the field for a pit road penalty was on the way to a top-five finish until he was caught up in a late-race wreck and relegated to a 24th-place finish.
- So far in 2019, Gilliland has recorded one pole, 53 laps led, three top-five and nine top-10 finishes and has an average starting position of 7.6 and an average finish of 11.7. After failing to make the NASCAR Gander Trucks Playoffs, the young driver is now ranked 11th in the driver point standings, despite finishing the regular season in seventh.
- 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 17 Gander Trucks races with two victories. Ward’s drivers have 19 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Bristol, with one top-five and five top-10 finishes.
- The world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1 features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
Todd Gilliland, Driver Q&A
How does last year’s experience at Bristol help you this year?
“Last year we were ok in practice I thought, but then we qualified bad. We started the race really bad, I spun out actually, and then we were able to come from the back. I ran the top a lot. We never got the chance to pit so I was on really old tires and we ended up finishing fifth, I think. A good finish, we need to run up there all day and then hopefully make a little charge at the end like we did last time. The KBM guys tested up there, I didn’t get a chance to, but hopefully they got the setup tuned in for us this weekend and all four of us can contend for a win.”
How does your K&N experience help you?
“I ran there in K&N three times and my last time there I was able to get a win. That was a lot of fun. Bristol is a lot of fun when you have a good car and if not it’s kind of hard to race because once you get side by side there’s not a lot of racing room as everyone can see. Hopefully I’ve got a good Tundra this weekend and we can put Mobil 1 in victory land and just have an overall smooth weekend.”
Todd Gilliland Career Highlights
- In 41 career Gander Trucks starts has collected two poles, nine top-five and 21 top-10 finishes and led 261 laps. Gilliland earned a career-best second-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Ill., in June of 2018, and followed up with another runner-up finish at Gateway in 2019.
- 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 23 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts has accumulated seven wins, two poles, 15 top-five and 21 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 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-045: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team has prepared chassis KBM-045 for this weekend’s UNOH 200. Gilliland last piloted this chassis earlier this season at Iowa Speedway and has earned two top-five and five top-10 finishes in his seven starts in this machine. Owner-driver Kyle Busch earned a victory in this chassis at Charlotte in 2017.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have collected three wins, four poles, 534 laps led, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 13.1 across 21 starts at Bristol
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch has collected all three of his organization’s victories at the half-mile oval, winning the Gander Trucks race as a part of his historic Bristol Sweeps in 2010 and 2017 and he also won the 2013 event.
- KBM holds the Gander Truck Series records for most career wins (74) 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).
