BRISTOL, Tenn. – Todd Gilliland may not be a full-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver any longer, but he continued his torrid start to the season by picking up his second-straight win Saturday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Gilliland dominated the Zombie Auto 150 after staying out during the race’s second and final competition break at lap 100, pulling away at the start of the final stage and leading the last 48 laps uncontested on the way to his first Bristol win.
Saturday marked Gilliland’s seventh K&N East win and his 20th victory in 50 starts combined between the East and the West.
For Gilliland, the win was anything but easy though, despite leading a race-high 64 of 150 laps.
The Sherrills Ford, N.C. native had to survive three restarts in the final 25 circuits before being able to hoist the traditional gladiator’s sword awarded to all Bristol victors.
The final of those three restarts came with 10 to go, when Gilliland powered around his DGR-CROSLEY teammate and polesitter Noah Gragson exiting the second turn and pulled away to a healthy advantage.
“I could just get such a big run off turn two there at the end,” Gilliland told SPEED SPORT. “We felt pretty confident on the top, but you never know until you’re clear, especially here! Anytime you give someone the inside they can use you up … but thankfully Noah raced me clean and I’m glad we came out on top.”
Asked after the race about his dropping back to the K&N Pro Series ranks ahead of his full-time Truck Series schedule with Kyle Busch Motorsports, Gilliland was all smiles.
“In the Truck Series, when Kyle (Busch) comes back and wins, I’ve heard some people say he’s stealing the little kids’ lunch money. I don’t know if you can use that phrase in my case, though, because I’m still a little kid too,” Gilliland laughed.
“Overall, I’m just excited to come back to this series and still get really good experience racing against guys that I’ll be racing all year long,” added Gilliland. “This is a huge confidence booster and it feels good to help DGR-CROSLEY – the team that my dad does such a great job with – continue to grow.”
Harrison Burton, who won the K&N East race at Bristol in 2016, passed Gragson with five laps left and hung on to finish second to Gilliland in the No. 12 DEX Imaging Toyota for MDM Motorsports.
Burton explained afterwards that Saturday’s race simply spiraled into chaos at the end, with his car needing long runs to work best but getting none of those when it mattered most.
“That was crazy … totally insane,” said Burton. “We would get going and then everyone just kept wrecking at the end. We were better on the long runs and Todd just got gone on the short runs. It’s tough knowing that you’re going to be really, really loose on the short run … but I just tried to get all I could. It’s not what we wanted, but it’s still a good day for us.”
Gragson crossed the line third after leading the first 53 laps of Saturday’s race from the pole. Tyler Ankrum and Brandon McReynolds completed the top five.
Dirt midget and sprint car ace Tanner Thorson made his K&N East debut on Saturday and was battling for a spot in the top-10 when he got turned around by Ronnie Bassett Jr. and crashed hard with 21 to go, bringing out the first of two red flags inside the final 20 circuits.
The race’s second major incident happened five laps later, when Grant Quinlan, Cole Rouse and Anthony Alfredo tangled in a multi-car melee with 15 to go, ending the day for all three young guns.
Saturday’s race was run in three 50-lap segments, the first time that format has been used in K&N East action at Bristol. Last year, the race was 25 laps shorter and had only one competition break at halfway.
The finish:
Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Tyler Ankrum, Brandon McReynolds, Tyler Dippel, Spencer Davis, Ronnie Bassett Jr., Eddie MacDonald, Ruben Garcia Jr., Reid Lanpher, Marco Gomes, Ryan Vargas, Brandon Oakley, Max Tullman, Dillon Bassett, Salvatore Iovino, Anthony Alfredo, Grant Quinlan, Juan Manuel Gonzalez, Cole Rouse, Hailie Deegan, Tanner Thorson, Derek Kraus, Matt Levin, Chase Cabre, Jesse Iwuji, Chuck Buchanan Jr.
