Hot Atlanta Start Fizzles Out Late For Gilliland

Todd Gilliland (HHP/Chris Owens)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Todd Gilliland fired off to a hot start Sunday in the Quaker State 400 available at Walmart and kept himself in position to potentially challenge for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.

However, he fell victim to the late-race mayhem that’s become a hallmark of Atlanta Motor Speedway since the track’s fast-paced facelift ahead of his rookie season in 2022.

Two weeks removed from his first career front-row start at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway, the No. 38 team prepared a CITGARD-sponsored Ford Mustang good enough for Gilliland to power his way to a third-place starting spot in the playoff opener. It slotted him right behind his teammate Michael McDowell, who claimed his series-leading fifth pole of the season.

Following the two best qualifying efforts of his Cup career, expectations were understandably high for the 24-year-old from Sherrills Ford, N.C., especially considering he’d led the most laps at Atlanta back in February.

However, warmer conditions lent the 1.54-mile quad-oval to a slicker style of racing, making for a much different race – but with similar results for Gilliland.

Unfortunately, third was the highest Gilliland ran all afternoon at Atlanta. The third-generation driver leveled out as a top-15 car for a majority of the race, evidenced by finishes of 16th and 14th in the opening two stages, with a respectable average-running position of 13th.

Despite a race that was dominated by Team Penske, Gilliland and McDowell had their opportunity to pounce, after both found themselves well inside the top-10 with less than 50 to go as the highest-scored Fords.

At that point, stage two winner Austin Cindric and eventual race winner Joey Logano found themselves near the back of the pack due to lengthy pit stops, while stage one winner and eventual third-place finisher Ryan Blaney got collected in a wreck with Martin Truex Jr.

Unable to ever break through the Bowtie Brigade that had formed in the top five spots between Trackhouse Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, Gilliland remained in the top 10 with less than 20 to go, until cautions began to fly more frequently.

Struggling to get up to speed on a pair of restarts, Gilliland found himself mired back in 19th for the only overtime attempt of the race.

In trying to salvage a quality finish, the No. 38 got swept up in an 11-car pileup in turn four coming to the checkered-flag, relegating the team to a 27th-place finish – one spot worse than in the February Atlanta race.

"It’s a frustrating result, for sure,” Gilliland said. “FRM is building really fast Ford Mustang Dark Horses right now, so it feels like a missed opportunity, but I am still super proud of this [No.] 38 group. We did everything we could do; we just fought the race track all day. There is still a lot of racing left to compete for points and wins, though. We'll bounce back at Watkins Glen.”

Gilliland will get a shot at redemption in what will be his 100th career Cup Series start when the series makes its annual return to the Finger Lakes region of New York and picturesque Watkins Glen International.

In addition to the “Todd Father’s” best finish of fourth coming on a road course, two of his top 10s this season have come on those style tracks and he finished 11th at WGI last year.

The second race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the Go Bowling at the Glen, is slated for Sunday, Sept. 15, with broadcast coverage live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.