AUSTIN, Texas – Todd Gilliland overcame a pit road penalty early in the race to earn his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory since 2019 in the inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas Saturday afternoon.
Gilliland won the first stage on a day where the entire race was run using rain tires due to persistent storms that came and went throughout the day. However, a penalty for one of his crew members coming over the wall too soon forced him to start stage two at the tail of the field at the start of the second stage.
He was able to work his way back through the field to line up fifth for the start of the final stage. He went right to work, moving into fourth on the restart as he chased Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum and Kaz Grala.
RESULTS: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Toyota Tundra 225
As Gilliland went to work on Grala for third, Ankrum began to challenge Creed for the race lead and with 10 laps left Ankrum made the pass, clearing Creed as they raced out of turn 19 on the 20-turn road course.
It wasn’t long before Gilliland also moved around Creed and he quickly set off in pursuit of Ankrum in the fight for the lead. He first tried to take the lead through turns 19 and 20, but the move didn’t stick and Ankrum was able to maintain the lead.
However, with six laps left Gilliland was able to slip past Ankrum as they raced out of turn 11 and down the long backstretch at the 3.410-mile road course. Once clear of Ankrum he quickly pulled away, racing to an unchallenged victory in the Toyota Tundra 225.
Gilliland admitted he drove aggressively throughout the race, a decision which he felt led him to victory lane.
“That was definitely aggressive Todd. Definitely I’d say from the drop of the green flag I was really, really aggressive on braking,” said Gilliland, who also earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge. “Just as soon as I’d get to somebody you really can’t mess around in these trucks. The next guy will be right on your back bumper pretty quickly.
“If you’ve got the truck to do it I think you just need to be aggressive. I was definitely aggressive. Made maybe one or two people mad. You definitely just need to get by people when you can.”
The victory by Gilliland was the first for Front Row Motorsports in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the first by a Ford since last October at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway when Grant Enfinger went to victory lane for ThorSport Racing.
Grala was able to save his tires late in the race, which allowed him to get by Creed and Ankrum to finish second aboard the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet, which is owned by Texas natives Randy and Tyler Young.
“I know the Young’s had a of people, family, friends here at the track this weekend,” Grala said. “Obviously when you’re running competitively, you’re in contention for the win, that always makes it more exciting for people coming. I hope they had a blast out there today, I’m sure they did and I’m sure they’re thrilled with the second place.”
Ankrum finished third after leading late in the race, followed by Grant Enfinger and Creed.
Sam Mayer, Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, Austin Hill and Ben Rhodes completed the top-10.