NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Overview
Event: Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 (Race 13 of 23), 150 Laps – 35/35/80; 225 Miles
Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile tri-oval)
Date/Broadcast: July 11, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
What You Need to Know
- Todd Gilliland and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team are off to the races in the Bluegrass State. This Thursday evening, the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will take to Kentucky Speedway for the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225. Gilliland has just one start at the 1.5-mile facility in 2018, resulting in a seventh-place finish.
- At Chicagoland Speedway two weeks ago, Gilliland persevered for a top-10 finish with a sixth-place result after starting 13th.
- Last weekend, Gilliland traveled to England and the grounds of Goodwood House in West Sussex, to participate in the Goodwood Festival of Speed hill climb. On Sunday morning in wet and rainy conditions, Gilliland was fastest in his category and seventh-fastest overall, but he did not finish the final shootout. He was also competing against his father, former Cup Series driver David Gilliland.
- So far in 2019, Gilliland has recorded one pole, 39 laps led, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes and has an average starting position of 8.7 and an average finish of 11.2. He currently is eighth in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series driver point standings.
- Michael Shelton will sit atop the box this weekend for the talented teenager. Shelton was James Buescher’s crew chief when he won the Gander Truck Series championship in 2012. The North Carolina native has seven career Gander Truck Series victories atop the pit box, including four with Buescher during their championship season. Shelton has recorded nine starts with four different drivers at Kentucky Speedway, and swept both Gander Trucks races at the facility with Buescher in 2012.
- 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
You just came back from the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, talk about that experience.
“It was a lot of fun, seeing so many cars that I’ve never seen before that I’ve just heard about. We got beat by one that was actually racing that was all electric and almost 15 seconds faster than us. It’s crazy just thinking about something going that much faster, and just seeing all the history and all the race fans that are there from all different aspects of racing is really cool, to see people come together and just love racing that much.”
How would you rate your season so far?
“I think it wasn’t very good obviously the first half. I think just in the last four or five races we’ve turned things around and been more on the upswing. We came away with a second-place finish at Gateway, we finished sixth last week. Our finishes haven’t been that bad in the past couple weeks. We still need to be faster in practice, get more stage points and stuff like that. Our finishes are getting a little bit better. Just building momentum every week and not have those weeks that you wreck or finish near the back or even last. Just have to be a little smarter on those weekends and make the most out of every race.”
What do you like most and least about racing at Kentucky?
“Well I’ve only raced there once. I like the speed of it, but I’d say entry of turn three is something I don’t like, just because it’s so flat you’re carrying a lot of speed in there and you can kind of put yourself in a bad position really fast. It’s about having your truck be under you to where you can be aggressive and make passes, and at the same time still make the corner and get turned in the center. Kind of a hard balance. One and two is a little bit faster and more banking, and three and four is flatter but you’re still trying to go wide open through there so it makes it a little bit tougher.”
Todd Gilliland Career Highlights
- In 37 career Gander Trucks starts has collected two poles, eight top-five and 19 top-10 finishes and led 247 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, one pole, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 6.0 across eight 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-060: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team has prepared chassis KBM-060, which is the same chassis Gilliland piloted to a second-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway earlier this season.
KBM Notes of Interest
- KBM drivers have 25 starts at Kentucky Speedway and have earned four wins, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes, with an average starting position of 6.8 and an average finish of 9.0.
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch picked up the first two wins at Kentucky Speedway for KBM in 2011 and 2014, while William Byron won in 2016 and Christopher Bell won in 2017.
- 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).
