Top Dog: Todd Gilliland
Indianapolis. Home to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in the Indianapolis 500, several professional sports teams and the Brickyard 400.
After a three-year stretch on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the NASCAR Cup Series returned to the hallowed yard of bricks on the oval layout for the 30th running of one of NASCAR’s crown jewel races.
The city recently became the home of basketball’s biggest female star, Caitlin Clark, a member of the Indiana Fever and the player featured on Josh Berry‘s hood at Indianapolis.
Just like Clark’s display of three-pointers, Todd Gilliland has been raining top 10 and 15 finishes as of late. His run continued at Indianapolis after he scored a sixth-place finish in his first start on the oval.
A caution-free stage one saw Gilliland finish 29th after starting 24th, making his green flag pit stop with nine laps remaining in the stage.
Gilliland stayed out to begin stage two, restarting inside the top 10. After falling to 13th, another caution on lap 70 prompted the No. 38 team to stay out again, promoting him into the top five.
The 24-year-old was forced to pit for fuel with 10 laps remaining in the stage, leaving him in 33rd at the end of the second frame.
For much of the first half of the stage, Gilliland was mired outside the top 20, where most drivers were fed to the wolves throughout the race. However, a caution on lap 110 allowed crew chief Ryan Bergenty to call for fuel only for his driver, putting Gilliland back inside the top 10.
With extensive fuel saving being the name of the game the final 30 laps, Gilliland maintained a spot inside the top 10. Despite a couple of late yellows that were certainly nail-biting for the team, Gilliland had enough fuel to cross the start/finish line just short of the top five at the checkered flag.
A brief lull at Pocono Raceway was sandwiched in-between several weeks of recent speed from Gilliland and company. It is his 11th finish of 17th or better in the last 13 races, something most drivers cannot lay claim to. The top 10 result gives Gilliland four on the year, matching his career-high from a year ago.
For a driver who finished fourth at the IMS road course as a rookie, it would not be a surprise to see him kissing the bricks there one day on the oval.
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