Lost in the thunder Sunday, the shouting, the bent sheet metal, and the sort of strategic chaos that makes Bristol feel less like a race track and more like a social experiment, there was Todd Gilliland quietly having himself a rather excellent afternoon.
You didn’t notice it at first. No one ever does with drives like this. They don’t come with flashing lights or dramatic overtakes for the lead. They just sort of… happen. Slowly. Methodically. Like someone sneaking up the order while everyone else is busy arguing.
Gilliland started 35th. Which at Bristol is less a starting position and more a polite way of saying, “Good luck, you’re going to need it.” From there, the plan wasn’t bold so much as it was sensible—hang on, survive, and when the moment came, do something slightly clever.
That “something” turned out to be two tires.
Now, in most places, that’s either a stroke of genius or a catastrophic miscalculation. At Bristol, it’s usually both within about ten laps. Plenty tried it. Chase Elliott did. Josh Berry did. And both discovered that two tires at the wrong time is about as useful as bringing a salad to a barbecue. Elliott limped home 22nd. Berry met the outside wall and finished 32nd, which is racing’s way of saying “that didn’t go well.”
Gilliland, however, made it work.
“We weren’t great to start and that’s kind of how we were in practice,” he said. “But it seemed like when the groove moved up to the top for us we were way better. It was like a different car.”
And that’s the thing about Bristol—it’s not just racing the other drivers, it’s racing the track as it evolves beneath you. Get on the right groove at the right time, and suddenly you look like a genius. Miss it, and you’re a caution waiting to happen.
By the closing laps, Gilliland found himself in that rarest of positions for a driver who started 35th: relevant. When the late cautions came out and the field began gambling like a room full of desperate poker players, he and crew chief Chris Lawson leaned into the two-tire call.
“No, even before that last caution with like 30 to go I was fairly content,” Gilliland admitted. “You hate to say that as a driver, but for the day that we had, I was content. I’m proud of my crew chief, Chris, with those calls. We were on the same page for two tires.”
Content, at Bristol, is usually code for “please don’t let this go wrong.”
It didn’t.
Gilliland held his ground while others unraveled, avoided the chaos that swallowed so many, and turned a day that could’ve been forgettable into one that was anything but.
“To recover from qualifying 35th at Bristol is tough to do,” he said. “Honestly, I’m just so proud of my team… I’m just really proud of our fight today.”
Sixth place may not come with a trophy. But on a day like this, starting where he did, it might as well have.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.
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