SPEEDWAY, Ind – The NASCAR Cup Series is a tough business to make it in, and 2022 Cup Series rookies Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland have endured a fair share of struggles in their first full-time seasons.
Through the first 21 races, Gilliland had a best finish of 15th at Darlington Raceway in May. For Burton, his best finish was a 10th at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July. Both drivers were well outside the top 25 in points heading into the 22nd race of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
But after a chaotic overtime finish at Indy saw drivers cut corners and spin out on restarts, the seas parted for Burton and Gilliland to finish third and fourth for their career-best finishes. And with their results, they became the first drivers born in the 2000s to score a top-five finish in a Cup Series event.
Burton began the day by qualifying 13th, his third-best start of the season. He fell back and only spent 23 of the 86 laps inside the top 15, but he made his way towards the front when it counted the most and made all the right moves in the final laps of the afternoon.
“It’s a good momentum builder for us,” Burton said. “Had a rough day going and then kind of dug deep and got something out of it. That’s what it’s all about, what our team’s all about, and really proud of that.”
Burton and Gilliland have been racing against each other for years in NASCAR’s lower divisions, and the pair’s finishes were not lost on Burton.
“I can’t get away from [Gilliland],” Burton joked. “We either finish 25th or third and fourth together. It’s been that way since we were ARCA Racing.”
For Gilliland, he turned heads on Saturday (July 30) morning by qualifying ninth, the best effort of his career. Gilliland showed throughout Sunday (July 31) afternoon that the top-10 starting spot was no fluke, as he spent more than half of the race in the top 15 and had an average running position of 14th throughout the 86-lap event. It was the most complete race of his Cup career, and it ended with his best-ever result.
“That’s really our best weekend start to finish by far, so hopefully that’s just something to build on,” Gilliland said. “For me, that’s a lot of confidence. Road course racing is tough, too. I’ve always loved it, but it hasn’t really loved me so much this year, especially the first time here at Indianapolis. That’s really cool.”
The duo’s strong finishes didn’t come without some fortune….
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