Track: Daytona Int’l Speedway, 3.61-mile road course
Race: 12 of 23
Event: Sunoco 159 (158.85 miles, 44 laps)
Schedule:
Sunday, August 16
12:00 p.m………….Race (FS1)
(all times ET)
Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150
Todd Gilliland has had this Sunday’s race at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway road course marked on his calendar since NASCAR announced it. Although the 20-year-old has not won on a road course yet, he has come close several times and feels this weekend is another shot at Victory Lane in the No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Ford F-150.
Gilliland has made nine road course starts in various series resulting in four second-place finishes. He finished second in both doubleheader races at Utah Motorsports Campus in the K&N West Series and led 21 laps in 2106. He also scored second twice in 2017 in the K&N East Series at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and New Jersey Motorsports Park.
His most heartbreaking road race came in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series in Canada in 2018. He led the final 11 laps of the race and thought he had his first Truck Series win in sight, until the final corner when then teammate, Noah Gragson, tried to make a pass resulting in both trucks spinning off course. Gilliland finished 11th.
The Sunoco 159 from Daytona International Speedway will be run on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 12 p.m. ET. The race will be broadcast live on FS1. The 44-lap race will be broken into three segments with stage-ending cautions on laps 12 and 25.
Quick Facts:
Number of Truck Series Road Course Starts: 3 (Bowmanville, Ontario)
Best Start: 2nd (2019)
Best Finish: 11th (2017 & 2018)
2020 Driver Point Standings: 10th (+29 above playoff cut line)
Gilliland on Daytona: “I feel like we’ve always run well at road courses, so I’m super excited. I’ve come so close to winning on road courses before, and this would be the perfect time for that to happen and lock us into the playoffs. All of these races coming up are very important so we need to run well. We’re only 29 points above the cut line for the playoffs, so we don’t have room for any bad races. Frontline Enterprises has been a big supporter of mine for several years and we got them to Victory Lane at Talladega in the ARCA race last year, so hopefully we can do it again Sunday.”
