DOVER, Del. – When the JEGS 200 rolls off Friday evening at Dover Int’l Speedway, it will mark a family feud of sorts for David and Todd Gilliland at the one-mile concrete oval.

Friday’s race will mark the first time that the father and son duo has ever competed against one another in NASCAR national series competition. Todd Gilliland will pilot the No. 4 Pedigree Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, while David Gilliland will wheel the No. 54 Frontline Enterprises Toyota Tundra for the DGR-CROSLEY team that he manages alongside co-owner Bo LeMastus.

Both father and son are excited to take to the track and compete against one another, something that has only happened one other time in their racing careers. The duo raced together in a super late model event at California’s Irwindale Speedway in July of 2014, where Todd beat his father in the final results.

“This is exciting and it’s something that’s super special for me, to be able to race against Todd at this level at one of my favorite race tracks,” said David Gilliland. “I’ve gotten into a lot of races in my career. I’ve looked forward to a lot of them … but nothing’s been like this. This is our first time racing against each other in a NASCAR series. It’s a really big deal.”

“It’s super cool to be racing against my dad this weekend,” added 17-year-old Todd Gilliland. “We’re hoping to beat each other, but at the same time, you have to focus on the real race out there and not let yourself get swallowed up in racing one other person. It’s going to be good, though. I’m looking forward to it, for sure.”

Todd Gilliland has leaned on his father for advice throughout his racing career and even scored two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East wins for DGR-CROSLEY earlier this year, but he’ll be looking to put everything he’s learned to use in order to come out ahead in Friday’s race.

“He’s always a good guy to lean on for me, but now with his experience first-hand at the race track … especially considering it’s the same track that I’m dealing with right now, I think it’s going to be a little bit of an advantage,” noted Todd Gilliland. “It’s always tough racing with him, but he loves this place and I think it will be especially tough this weekend.”

While David Gilliland is eager to race his son, he also recognizes that his appearance behind the wheel at Dover this weekend is equally as much about building DGR-CROSLEY for the future.

“Things have been really good and we’ve grown really fast, but we know there’s still a ways to go yet too,” noted David Gilliland. “We’ve won all three of the K&N races so far this year, and our last truck race we led a bunch with Kyle Benjamin and finished second, so the progress is there. It’s just maintaining that momentum and having trucks built that we’re working through.

“So far this year the races have been spaced out, but now we’ve got three in a row coming up. That’s been the most difficult part, is trying to find people and building the team. We’ve tripled in size as far as employees in the last three months. That’s been the most challenging part of the new partnership.”

As far as winning the race goes, the elder Gilliland has a plan for that, too.

“Todd’s really fast, and I planned on picking his brain when we left the media center (Thursday),” said David Gilliland. “Hopefully I can learn something from him that will translate for our team as well.”

But for both father and son, they were in agreement on the overriding emotion for the weekend.

“It’s very exciting,” both Gillilands agreed. “It’s just super, super special.”