Gilliland Nets Seventh-Place Finish In The Windy City
Todd Gilliland in action at the Chicago Street Course. (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)
CHICAGO - Todd Gilliland survived a wet and wild Sunday at the Chicago Street Course to bring his No. 38 Gener8or Ford Mustang Dark Horse home seventh in the Grant Park 165.
The 24-year-old Sherrills Ford, N.C., native scored his third top-10 finish of the season and second on a road course, following a 10th-place effort at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway in June.
Gilliland has found success in road racing throughout his Cup Series career, highlighted by his best finish of fourth on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course during his rookie campaign with Front Row in 2022.
Despite the solid run, which included earning three stage points at the end of stage one, Gilliland was a bit down after the race because he believed an even better finish was possible.
“It is really disappointing actually,” said Gilliland of his end result. “I didn’t help us any with that last caution. I didn’t mean to get into the 4 [Josh Berry]. I was trying to go to the right and get under him under braking, and I pounded him. That is not what I wanted to do whatsoever, and it definitely didn’t help us at all.
“Overall, our car was really strong though. I am really proud of that,” he added. “We have been bringing a lot more speed to the racetrack, so that is a lot of fun.”
Gilliland sits 20th in the Cup Series playoff rankings, 121 points behind the 16th-place cutoff with six races to go in the regular season, meaning he’ll almost certainly need to win a race to make the postseason field.
However, with his surges of momentum at various points this year - including a career-best 120 laps led - it’s easily fathomable that Gilliland could have a shot to do just that down the stretch.
The Cup Series heads next to Long Pond, Pa., for the Great American Getaway 400 presented by VisitPA.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Coverage begins Sunday, July 14 at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
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