Todd Gilliland Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In defiance of conventional wisdom, it wasn’t an experienced dirt racer who won Monday’s twice-rain-delayed Pinty’s Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. Nor was it a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular who took the checkered flag. When the dust settled, Martin Truex Jr. was the unlikely occupant of Victory Lane—and a dominant one at that. Racing in the Camping World Truck Series for the first time since 2006, Truex led 105 of the 150 laps in an action-filled race that featuredRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Ben Rhodes wrapped up a perfect pair of race outings at Daytona International Speedway answering his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory on the oval last week with a dramatic win Friday night on the infield road course. It took three overtime starts to secure the victory over 2020 series champion Sheldon Creed, but Rhodes’ work in the No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota marked only the third time in series history a driver has opened the season with back-to-back wins. And it marked theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Front Row Motorsports announced its official 2021 NASCAR Cup Series plans Wednesday morning as Anthony Alfredo will become a full-time driver and David Ragan making his return to the Daytona 500 being the highlights. Alfredo, who spent the past season running part-time for Richard Childress in the Xfinity Series, will replace John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 38 Ford Mustang. Ragan, who finished fourth in last year’s weather and crash-marred “Great American Race,” will run the No. 36 Ford once again. Car owner Bob JenkinsRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service In a wild two-lap shootout that ended prematurely with a multicar wreck near the entrance to Turn 3, 19-year-old Canadian Raphael Lessard earned his first NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory in Saturday’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. Lessard had nosed ahead of runner-up Trevor Bayne while Stewart Friesen’s Chevrolet spun into the outside backstretch wall on the final lap, causing the caution that froze the field. The yellow made a winner of Lessard, but what was euphoria for one KyleRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Derek Kraus scored his best career finish in Sunday’s South Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Darlington Raceway, reducing the playoff cutoff gap on Todd Gilliland down to 10 points. Kraus, who drove a throwback of Ron Hornaday’s NAPA scheme, appeared was going to have a modest 147-lap race, battling his former Bill McAnally Racing teammate for the seventh spot. Up to that point, Kraus said his afternoon wasn’t great as track position was hard to come by up until the final stage when his McAnally-Hilgemann RacingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With the three drivers in front of him opting to pit just before an overtime restart, Ben Rhodes chose to stay on track in the fourth position and held off rookie Derek Kraus, winning Sunday’s South Carolina Education Lottery 200. It was the third NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series win of the 23-year old Kentucky native’s career; the first since 2018. He is the seventh different winner of 2020. “Gosh, that was such a tough win,’’ Rhodes said. “We weren’t the best truck allRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Zane Smith survived a restart with two laps left in Friday’s KDI Office Technology 200 at Dover International Speedway and pulled away to claim his second NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory of the season. The 21-year-old Sunoco rookie held off Matt Crafton and GMS Racing teammate Brett Moffitt in the final two-lap dash to earn his second victory in three races and reinforce his status as a formidable contender for the series championship. Smith held a comfortable lead of more thanRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Zane Smith made a last lap pass in double overtime to earn his first career NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory Friday night in the Henry Ford Health System 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The 21-year old Smith held off his friend, Sunoco rookie Christian Eckes by a mere 0.318-second for the victory and his official berth into the upcoming 2020 series Playoffs. Their duel was made possible after the race’s most dominant driver Grant Enfinger was taken from the lead onRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service As the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series leader for seven straight weeks, Austin Hill was all but assured of making the Playoffs. On Friday night he made it official, winning the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200 at Kansas Speedway to pick up his first victory of the season and lock up a Playoff spot. After swapping the top spot with Brett Moffitt following the final restart on Lap 88, Hill grabbed the lead for good on Lap 96 of 134 and heldRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Sheldon Creed prevailed in a frantic three-wide restart on Lap 52 of Saturday’s Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race and held the spot through the second stage break, earning his first career series victory when lightning and rain showers forced the race to be called official 71 laps into the scheduled 150-lapper. Menacing weather around Kentucky Speedway ultimately caused teams to race the skies as well as each other and Creed’s bold move around Kentucky nativeRead More