Gilliland, driving Entrance Row Motorsports’ No. 38 Ford, ran nicely in final weekend’s season opening Daytona 500 – main 16 laps – however was among the many 23 automobiles collected in a late-race accident.
Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Gilliland was an much more dominant power. He began fourth and led a profession and race-high 58 of 260 laps till his involvement in one other late-race incident led to a different irritating end.
Statistically, the 23-year-old son of NASCAR Truck group proprietor and former driver David Gilliland is thirty first within the sequence standings with no end higher than twenty sixth.
The in-race efficiency, nevertheless, is one other story solely.
“My automobile was actually quick. We’ve proven that the final couple of weeks. Simply the progress from my group,” he stated after Sunday’s race. “Proper at this second, it positively appears like an enormous, missed alternative.
“I misplaced some monitor place (late within the race) and bought caught within the center after which simply bought behind that wreck, which in the end bent a toe hyperlink. I really feel like I made a variety of good strikes, however clearly the one on the finish the place all of it counts, I didn’t.
“I’ll put the emphasis on a extremely quick automobile and my group did an incredible job. I simply want I might have carried out slightly bit higher on the finish.”
There have been instances throughout Sunday’s race when Gilliland was battling the likes of Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. for the lead and doing a strong job controlling the race when out entrance.
“In my coronary heart, I positively consider that I can do it with these guys week-in and week-out. Our automobile was actually quick. I used to be making actually aggressive strikes, however actually in management the entire time,” he stated.
“That’s what it takes, is my confidence will get increasingly, and hopefully these guys’ confidence round me will get higher with each lap additionally.
“We’ve simply bought to maintain doing that and hopefully the higher runs will come extra constantly, and I race up entrance with these guys increasingly.”
Gilliland additionally had one of many higher descriptions of Sunday’s wild race, which featured a monitor report 48 lead adjustments amongst 14 completely different drivers.
Throughout one warning, Gilliland radioed his crew, “It’s like going to a haunted home. It’s enjoyable however I’m scared for my life.”
