Flat Tire Dashes Gilliland’s Shot at a Top-Five Finish at Chicago

Todd Gilliland had never raced at Chicagoland Speedway until Thursday night’s ARCA Racing Series event when he finished third. He took what he learned from that race and applied everything he could to his No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra on Friday night for the 150-lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. He was running third with 12 laps remaining when he brushed the outside wall, which flattened his right-rear tire. The extra pit stop late in the race left him two laps down in 16th place.
 
 
Stage One Recap:
  • Gilliland started fourth in the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra.
  • The truck was a bit loose, but he finished the first 35-lap stage in sixth place.
  • He pitted for four tires and a wedge adjustment during his first stop on lap 38.
 
Stage Two Recap:
  • Gilliland started the next 35-lap stage from ninth place.
  • Halfway through the run he told his crew chief, Marcus Richmond that the truck fired off very tight, then got better, but then became loose again. Owner Kyle Busch was on the radio telling Gilliland that based off his experience at Chicago, there was never a happy medium. He would always be either loose, or tight.
  • When the stage ended on lap 70, Gilliland was eighth. He pitted for four tires and to add more wedge.
 
Stage Three Recap:
  • Gilliland started the final 80-lap stage in ninth place.
  • With 50 laps to go, he told the team his Mobil 1 Tundra was “plowing tight.”
  • A caution on lap 122 allowed him to pit for four new tires and a track bar adjustment to help his Tundra. With a quick stop, he restarted the race in fifth place.
  • On the restart with 25 laps to go, Gilliland raced up to third place. While running in the top three, he brushed the outside wall with 12 laps remaining, which caused the right-rear tire to go down.
  • Having to stop for right-side tires caused him to lose two laps to the lead trucks. With nobody else on his lap to race for position, Gilliland finished 16th.

KBM PR