Todd Gilliland Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor HAMPTON, Ga. – Michael McDowell continued his superspeedway qualifying dominance on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, capturing his fifth pole of the season with a lap of 30.926 seconds, 179.267 to lead the field to green in Sunday’s Quaker State 400. “I don’t think you ever go into it like, ‘Oh, we’ve got this.’ I knew that we would have a shot at it, but I knew when Blaney went faster than us that first round, even though it was only by a few hundredths, you knowRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Michael McDowell has qualifying on superspeedways figured out this year. For the fourth time in 2024, the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford will start at the front of the grid for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 after a lap of 49.136 seconds, 183.165 mph, setting a new Next Gen track record at Daytona. McDowell is one of several drivers not yet locked into the Playoffs and counts Daytona as an opportunity race for both he and hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Kyle Larson has gotten his redemption at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Two months removed from his debut in the Indianapolis 500, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, sporting the same paint scheme that he was scheduled to run that weekend in Charlotte, charged through the field late, putting himself in position to capitalize when the race went into overtime. As the laps were winding down, it was shaping up to be a battle among those saving fuel (Brad Keselowski and RyanRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor CHICAGO – Bowman is back. It has been a long road for Alex Bowman since he last visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series, but he’ll have to wait no more after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Chicago Street Race to break a winless streak dating back some 80 races. Since that win in March 2022 at Las Vegas, the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet has been through a lot, including a concussion that sidelined him for a number of races that same year, as wellRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service SONOMA, Calif. – The hometown hero Kyle Larson executed as he needed to, making a pass for the lead with eight laps remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 to claim his second win at the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway road course and third trophy of the season. It was a frantic start to the day on the newly-repaved 1.99-mile course through the rolling Northern Californian hills with seven caution flags falling before the 110-lap race’s halfway point – more yellow flags thanRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C.— Driving a No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota with a paint scheme reminiscent of the late Tim Richmond’s 1982 Buick, Tyler Reddick emulated the driver he was honoring, winning the pole position for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (3 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Turning a lap at Darlington Raceway in 28.906 seconds (170.124 mph) in the final round of qualifying, Reddick edged Brad Keselowski (170.018 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.018 seconds. The BuschRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Like a Michael Jordan drive to the basket, Tyler Reddick channeled his 23XI Racing co-owner on the final lap at Talladega, weaving his way through the chaos to get to the finish line first and score the win in Sunday’s GEICO 500. Heading into the final lap, it was shaping up to be a battle of the Fords and Toyotas, with pole-sitter Michael McDowell and six-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski leading the Blue Ovals on the bottom lane, with Reddick leading what wasRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – Michael McDowell has been a force to be reckoned with in qualifying on superspeedways this season and he was back at it again at Talladega, banking his second pole position of the season. With a lap of 52.609 seconds, 182.022 mph, McDowell put his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the front row for the third time on a superspeedway in 2024. For teams like Front Row and drivers like McDowell, Talladega is one race that they circle as an opportunity andRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson claimed his first pole position of the 2024 season Saturday afternoon to lead an all Hendrick Motorsports front row for Sunday’s Toyota Owner’s 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson’s time of 22.438-seconds (120.332 mph) just bettered his teammate Chase Elliott’s mark of 22.440-seconds (120.321) around the three-quarter mile Richmond oval – good enough to earn the 2021 series champion and defending Richmond race winner the 17th pole position of his career. “DefinitelyRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. – Michael McDowell and Joey Logano performed their own version of “Trading Places” during NASCAR Cup Series time trials on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After finishing second to Logano in qualifying for the season-opening DAYTONA 500, McDowell will start his 467th Cup race from a position he has never occupied before—first on the grid—with Logano beside him in second. Having won the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career, McDowell will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Ambetter HealthRead More