Todd Gilliland earns career-high finish with 2nd at Talladega
LINCOLN, Ala. — Todd Gilliland’s runner-up finish Sunday in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway was his best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series to date.
Prior to Talladega, Gilliland’s best career finish came in his rookie season at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit in 2022, where he finished fourth.
“I have high expectations for myself,” Gilliland said to The Racing Experts. “I want to do this more often, I think I can. But you have to definitely enjoy it, I guess, when the opportunities do come, right?
“Even at superspeedways, it doesn’t happen every day. So, just really, really pumped for my whole team and I think even as we’re sitting here right now, I’m getting more more of a smile on my face.”
Gilliland’s second-place finish is also his first top-five finish of the season and fourth Top-10 finish. The Front Row Motorsports drivers tied a personal-best for a single season.
Todd’s father, longtime NASCAR racer and team owner David Gilliland, was among Todd’s support on pit road after the Talladega race.
David, who finished second at Talladega in 2013, knows the disappointment that his son might be feeling with coming up one spot short of the win.
“Monday, he’s going to wake up and really take in the huge accomplishment,” the elder Gilliland said to The Racing Experts.
“…Their team hasn’t had the best year this year, so hopefully this will build some momentum.”
With two races left in the year, Todd Gilliland is ranked 29th in points. Gilliland has raced his entire Cup career with FRM, joining the team in 2022.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.