TODD GILLILAND, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT MAKING IT TO THE FINALS OF THE IN-SEASON CHALLENGE?
“I definitely think we’ve had luck on our side, but if you get past four or five drivers at this point, it’s always gonna take a little bit of luck. I felt our speed was much better at North Wilkesboro, so I feel like we earned that one more. I’m excited about it. It’s been something fun for my team to focus on. They’re pushing super hard for Indianapolis, so it’s been cool to see those guys rise up to the occasion and we’re hoping for one more really good week.”
HOW MUCH OF A CARROT IS THIS IN-SEASON CHALLENGE WHEN IT FIRST STARTS? DO YOU PAY A LOT OF ATTENTION TO IT?
“To be honest with you, I don’t think it’s necessarily top of mind. When the In-Season Tournament starts for me at least, obviously it brings a lot of excitement to the middle part of the season. It’s hot out and we’re right in the middle of our season. Everyone just kind of grinding it out, but I think at the beginning you’re like, ‘Alright, there’s one guy that’s gonna win all of this. Chances are pretty low that it’s gonna be me or whoever it is for anybody going into this.’ But as we’ve started clicking them off I was like, ‘Man, we’re getting a little bit closer,’ then obviously coming down to the last week now I’m really excited about it and paying a lot of attention to it. I think it’s fun. With so many TV partners that NASCAR works with, TNT has done a good job of bringing some excitement to this middle part of the year.”
HOW DID PEOPLE START CALLING YOU THE TODDFATHER AND DO YOU LIKE THAT NICKNAME?
“I honestly have no idea where that came from. Fans are very interesting. They’ve given me a lot of nicknames, mostly good, so I’ll take that for now. But the Toddfather, I don’t know what to think about that because I guess it’s the Godfather from a different movie. I’ve never seen that, but maybe I should watch that as it’s gaining a little bit of traction at least with my fans. I’ll have to do some more investigating on that, but I honestly have no idea where it came from. It could be worse, for sure.”
COULD YOU JUST MAKE UP A STORY FOR US NOW OF HOW YOU GOT THAT NICKNAME?
“That’s what I need to do. Blaney is gonna be calling me the Toddfather this weekend when we wax him, hopefully. (laughing)
HOW BIG HAS THIS BEEN FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO SHOWCASE WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED?
“Like I mentioned, I think it’s big for my whole team. For me, I’ve just been going about our normal business of trying to get the best results we can for the 34 and seeing where that lands within the In-Season Tournament. It’s been cool to see my team grab another gear and just push that little bit extra, and it’s cool to see guys step up to the plate. I think that’s been the coolest part for me, just seeing them really enjoy it and work for something. When we’re mid-twenties in points and a good bit out of the Chase bubble it’s sometimes hard for those guys to continue to stay motivated, which I think they always do, but just in life in general, when you feel like you’re not fighting for something, it’s easy to get a little bit relaxed, whereas with this I think it’s been really fun to see those guys push to the absolute max.”
WHAT IS THE CONFIDENCE LEVEL THIS WEEKEND AT INDY AND WHAT IS THE BIGGEST ADJUSTMENT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ON SUNDAY?
“I think my confidence level is honestly pretty high. I was able to do one of the first tests there, a tire test when we were going back to the oval at Indy, so I think that really helped me a lot of just getting off on a good foot of getting laps, understanding the racetrack, going through a lot of changes, and then once we got racing I feel like that’s been probably one of our best intermediate racetracks. So, I’m excited about it. I obviously know it’s gonna take everything we’ve got and more probably to beat the 12 straight up, but I think just for us and the 34 team it’s gonna be an interesting weekend. Chicagoland even was a step in the right direction for us, so I’m hopeful that we can continue that momentum.”
SOME WOULD CALL THIS DAVID VS. GOLIATH. HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THAT?
“Put the house on us, that’s what I would say. We made it this far, why not us? We’ll see. I’m with you. I would probably agree with all of those people who say we’re fighting an uphill battle, but, honestly, we’ve been the underdogs in however many matchups there’s been, but it’s doable. It’s crazy. It’s only one person standing between us and winning this thing, so I’m excited about it. It’s gonna be an uphill battle. Davis vs. Goliath is probably fair, but we’re gonna go out and do our best and see where everything ends up.”
WHAT IF THIS GOES DOWN TO THE WHITE FLAG? HOW DO YOU INTEND TO RACE HIM?
“I don’t know. That’s a tough question. I hope we’re in that position, honestly, to be racing the 12 coming down to the end. It’s gonna be tough. I was thinking about that on my drive up to North Wilkesboro. I was like, ‘I’ll do some crazy things for a million dollars,’ and just one guy is standing between us. We’ll have to see how it goes.”
IN ATLANTA YOU MENTIONED HOW YOU WEREN’T REALLY SOLD IN THE CONCEPT OF THE CHALLENGE WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT. NOW THAT YOU’VE REACHED THIS POINT, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOU’VE LEARNED TO APPRECIATE ABOUT THIS CONCEPT?
“I think, like you said, at the beginning it’s hard to look up at that mountain and expect to be one of the guys that just pushed through every round. I think I was always appreciative of it, but at the same time I think you just never really know how it’s gonna work out for you. Once we get to this point now, it’s just been a lot of fun. It’s something for media to talk about. It’s something for the teams, the drivers, everyone to focus on. For me, I’ve gotten to talk to different people. I talked to Bowman for a long time at Atlanta. Chase a little bit last week. I’m sure I’ll talk to Blaney a lot this week, so, for me, that’s been the fun part. We’re all such hardcore competitors. That’s what I’ve learned about all NASCAR drivers, whether it’s on the track or mostly away from the track, we’re always competing and doing everything we can. I think that’s been fun, but just for the most part getting us that little extra media attention and just a chance at a big prize in midsummer is definitely a lot of fun.”
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU MIGHT DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS?
“No, I’m trying to keep those thoughts out of my mind because, like you said, we’re not there yet. It’s gonna really suck if we get to this point and don’t win it, so we’re gonna give it our best effort and then from there I’m sure we’ll figure out something fun to do, for sure. We’ll have a good time with it.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR SEASON SO FAR?
“I think it’s been up and down. I think that’s a good way to describe it. I feel like there’s been some high points, getting only our second top 10 of the year at North Wilkesboro, I think we were hoping for more at this point to be honest. But I think we’re getting our consistency slightly better. I would say that for us our biggest improvement needs to be on the intermediate racetracks, the mile-and-a-halves. I’d say when we go to the short tracks, I feel like we can compete in the top 15, top 10 and that’s kind of our expectation, whereas I think I have the most to improve for sure on the mile-and-a-halves. I think we’re just chipping away at it. If we have some really strong runs, the points are tightening up in front of us and, yeah, I think if we can be top 20, around 20th in the next couple of weeks that would be good progress after these races. We’ll just keep chipping away at it.”
WHAT’S THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO HAVE AT INDIANAPOLIS TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND CONTEND?
“I think maybe it’s between patience or aggression. I think both of them you have to really balance that. This is a place that we’ve seen it be pretty tough to pass at if you’re’ in the midfield of cars. It seems like it always becomes a fuel mileage race to the end just because of the nature of the track and how tough it is to pass, so I think you have to just manage your own race. There are times you’re gonna be in line and you’re not going anywhere, so you have to manage that part of it. And then if you do have a fuel advantage, tire advantage, you have to be aggressive. We saw the 5 car a couple of years ago be able to drive all the way up through the pack, so I think you have to balance that for sure of patience vs. aggression.”
WHAT WOULD A WIN IN THIS CHALLENGE MEAN FOR YOUR TEAM AND FRM?
“It would be fun. That’s the biggest thing, like I said, my team is probably the most focused on it of anybody. They really appreciate it. It’s been a while since we’ve won anything, so that would be nice. Overall, team morale is always something that if you can help in any way that’s what you need. We see our Truck teams going out and winning getting a one-two last weekend, so it would be great to win something even if it’s the In-Season Tournament. That would help team mojo a little bit.”
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RYAN BLANEY STORY?
“I feel like Ryan Blaney is such an underrated personality – maybe not underrated because obviously he’s been doing a lot of commercials and stuff like that for NASCAR, so I think it’s getting out there, but my favorite Ryan Blaney story was probably during a Ford Racing bonding trip with all the drivers. We’re kind of hanging out and we’re actually all on a golf cart, so there’s probably six of us on a golf car – all drivers, it’s pitch black, we can’t see anything and we hit a ditch. None of us could see it and Blaney flew off the back and we’re like, ‘Oh, no. We just killed Ryan Blaney.’ But, luckily, everyone survived. I don’t know if the Ford guys were very happy with us after that, but we were like, ‘We won’t get in trouble because Ryan is with us. He was the champion at that point, but then we thought we hurt him, so that was probably an all-time Ryan Blaney story for me.”
WHERE WERE YOU GUYS?
“We were at Pursell Farms during Talladega weekend, so that was a lot of fun.”
HOW DID LAST WEEK RANK FOR YOU AFTER FINISHING IN THE TOP 10, ADVANCING TO THE IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT FINAL AND SIGNING A CONTRACT EXTENSION?
“It was a really good week for us. I was talking after the race about how the Cup Series will beat you down. There are some weeks that are just straight-up not good, not fun, but last week was up there. That was one of our best ones for sure. I feel like my whole team and my crew chief was super confident going into the weekend. We tried a completely different setup and our execution was there all day, pit stops were good. A new contract is always very fun to announce and just get that out there. Everything is going our way right now, that’s for sure. I feel very lucky in the moment and we’ll just keep enjoying it.”
THIS CHALLENGE HAS BROUGHT TWO THIRD-GENERATION DRIVERS TOGETHER FOR THE FINAL. DO YOU FEEL THIS IS LIKE A HATFIELD-MCCOY DEAL WITH RIVAL FAMILIES?
“If I’m ever fast enough to have a rivalry with Ryan Blaney on the racetrack, I’ll be very happy. We’ll take it how we can get it with the In-Season Tournament, but I’m excited. It’s always interesting to see the generations of families in racing. There are a lot of them and a lot of the kids get into it, so it’s gonna be fun. I always get texts from my dad post-race, so it’s always fun to talk about that and we’ll see how it goes.”
DID YOU AND RYAN SPEND TIME IN THE INFIELD AS KIDS OR RACING TOGETHER?
“It’s like Ryan is just a little bit older than me, just enough to where he was probably leaving quarter midgets and late models and all those things as I was getting into it. To be honest, I never actually raced much against him growing up.”
HOW HAVE YOU SURVIVED TO THIS POINT WITH THE CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED IN YOUR CAREER?
“I think I have been beat down, that’s for sure, at some points, and I think, I don’t know, man. Cup Racing, you’ve got to ride the highs and the lows. I think that’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to kind of move on really fast, really quickly. I do think that’s something I feel very lucky that I grew up in the sport and around the sport. I saw my dad go through these things, the ups and the downs in racing. In racing, you’re gonna lose more than you’re ever gonna win with just how it is. You’re racing one versus 36 other guys, so it’s interesting. You’ve got to kind of love the grind, I would say. I also think being teammates with Michael McDowell for my first four years in the Cup Series was great. He’s been a guy that’s been through it all. He’s a journeyman of the Cup Series, so he gave me a little perspective and then there are a lot of things you just learn for yourself. You surround yourself with good people Sometimes your mental state is not the best, there’s no doubt about that, but you’ve got to keep moving on week-by-week and keep surviving.”
WHAT WAS THE PERSPECTIVE FROM MICHAEL AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN FOR YOURSELF?
“I think from Michael’s side of it, like I said, he’s been through it all – the good and the bad – so I think he just always said what I just said – enjoy the grind. We’re very lucky with what we get to do. Work hard with the people around you and go do the best you can, so I obviously really enjoyed my time with Michael. Those were fun years, but that’s the biggest thing – you’ve got to keep your mind focused and you learn a lot about yourself through the good and the bad. You’ve got to enjoy the good moments and not get too down in the bad moments.”
IN TERMS OF CUP, WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR HIGHLIGHTS THAT ARE THE MOST MEANINGFUL?
“That’s a tough one. I think some that come to the top of my mind, obviously finishing second last year at Talladega was fun, getting close to the first win. I felt like we had a chance that whole afternoon, so that was a lot of fun, feeling that fight again of being in the game coming down to the end. I think one that comes to mind also is Bristol this year. We qualified 30th and ran probably 35th that whole first stage, and then as soon as the groove moved up I was able to pass a ton of cars, and that was just a really fun race from my side of it. I always think back to my first Daytona 500, just looking forward to that moment so much for my whole life. I think that one will always be probably my favorite Cup moment of all time. It’s tough to beat that. We were kind of in the hunt that whole first Daytona 500, so we’ve had a lot of good moments, for sure.”
WHAT MAKES RACING FOR FRM SO SPECIAL?
“There are positives and negatives to literally every single team out there. I think we’re a smaller team, so every single person pulls their weight and more at our race team. With that comes a lot of freedom, too. We’re not a super big corporate race team. We can do what we want and have a lot of fun with it, so that’s been super enjoyable as we’re growing and getting more competitive. We just talked about in the Cup Series about the highs and lows, but I think that’s the one thing that keeps us going in the right direction is building this team the way we want to and getting more competitive along the way. So, I’m excited about it. I’ve obviously known Bob Jenkins and the whole Jenkins family for a long time, pretty much since I was 12-13 years old, so it really does feel like family to me at Front Row Motorsports. I hope to be there for a long time and just continue to grow this together.”
