Gilliland Scores Stage Win & Top-10 Finish at the Tricky Triangle

Date:         July 28, 2018
Event:         Gander Outdoors 150 (Race 14 of 23)
Series:        NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location:   Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. (2.5-mile tri-oval)
Format: Three Segments; 15 laps/15 laps/30 laps
Start/Finish: 2^nd / 7^th (running, completed 60 of 60 laps)
Winner:      Kyle Busch of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)

Todd Gilliland learned a lot Saturday during the Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono Raceway. Taking what he learned during truck practice and competing in the rain-shortened ARCA Racing Series event on Friday, Gilliland led laps, got his first stage win and scored his sixth top-10 finish of the season.

Stage One Recap:

• Gilliland started second after getting outrun for the pole by his boss, owner Kyle Busch.
• He led the first lap before Busch took the lead.
• He resumed the lead when Busch pitted on lap 12 and claimed his first stage win as Stage One ended on lap 15.
• The KBM team brought him to pit road for right-side tires when the pits opened on a lap 16.

Stage Two Recap:

• When the race resumed on lap 21, Gilliland was in fourth.
• Only taking two tires made the Mobil 1 Tundra too tight, so they decided to pit before the stage ended for four tires on lap 27.

Stage Three Recap:

• After staying out during the stage break, Gilliland restarted the final 30-lap stage in eighth.
• He fell back to 11^th on the restart, but worked his way back up to ninth place with 10 laps to go.
• Gilliland kept fighting and was eighth with five to go and finished the race in seventh place.

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:

Talk about how your race went today?

“It went okay. I think anytime you can take away the positives is good and we definitely had some of those. Our finish was not what we wanted. I had a really bad restart for the final stage. A lot of things came together, but we didn’t get the finish we needed. We’re getting closer and closer and had a very fast Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra and hopefully we can bring this chemistry back in Michigan in two weeks.”

Gander Outdoors 150 Recap:

• Kyle Busch won race followed by Erik Jones who was a substitute driver for KBM’s Noah Gragson who was ill, Dalton Sargent, Stewart Friesen and Justin Haley rounded out the top-five finishers.
• The race featured two cautions for a total of eight laps. There were nine lead changes among six drivers. Busch led 43 laps while Gilliland led seven and Erik Jones led one.

How Gilliland’s KBM Teammates Fared:

• Erik Jones, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 2^nd
• Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 1^st

NCWTS Owner Championship Standings:

The No. 4 team remains seventh in the Truck Series Owner’s Championship Standings. Gilliland moved up one position to 12^th in the Driver Championship Standings, 128 points out of eighth place which is the final cutoff for the playoffs.

Next Race:

The Truck Series returns to action in two weeks on Saturday, Aug. 11 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Live coverage of the race begins at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.