MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Kyle Busch Motorsports young guns Noah Gragson, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland may be the best of friends off the race track, but they’ll be the fiercest of rivals on Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
The three teenagers all enter the Virginia half-mile with a shot of momentum, having finished in the top-five in the fall race last year at Martinsville, and all three are hungry to take home the grandfather clock at the end of the Alpha Energy Solutions 250.
“Or granddaddy watch,” joked Gragson, referencing the enthusiastic miscue from his victory lane interview in 2017.
Gilliland and Burton enter the weekend having already had one hard battle this season, when they went wheel to wheel for the win in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East opener at New Smyrna Speedway in February, and Gilliland explained Friday that the fact the trio can maintain their strong friendships and still compete at the highest level against one another is important when it comes to the bigger picture.
“I think that’s something that’s just been very special … growing up with everyone, you know? The three of us have raced against each other for a long time and we’re all extremely competitive,” said Gilliland. “We’ve raced each other really hard in the past, and I think each of us knows that we all want to win at the end of the day.”
“When you race against guys you know you can trust on-track and that push you, it means a lot.”
Gragson agreed with that sentiment, adding that when business is at hand, each of the three knows they have to put their friendship aside and do the job they were hired to do – go out and win the race.
“We all joke around and mess around off the track, but when it’s time to be serious and it’s time to get to crunch time and put our racing hats on, I think we each have a light switch that we flip very easily,” said Gragson. “I think you have to have that if you want to be successful in this series.”
Burton was third in line, so by the time the microphone got to him, he grinned as he tried to come up with something to add.
“I agree with basically everything they said,” he laughed. “They stole all the good stuff. But it’s great working with Noah and Todd. We’re all a little crazy, but we have a good time and we make it fun.”
Acknowledging that all three of them finished in the top five last fall, Gragson knows it won’t be easy to repeat as a Martinsville winner, and he knows he’ll have to scrap with his teammates to do so.
“On the race track I think we all three want to be in a KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) top three finish and go one-two-three at the end of the day,” Gragson said. “If we all are (running) one-two-three, then we know we’re going to be battling hard.”
“I think together, collectively, we all want the best for the organization and we all know we have fast Toyota Tundras, so now it’s just about working together until we get to the front. Then it’s game on.”
Gilliland took a more philosophical approach before the trio departed the media center, laughing and cutting up all the while.
“We’re just out there doing our best. I think it does help to have teammates that you get along with, because you can communicate information a little bit better and a little easier, and I think because of that everything should flow together pretty well for all of us this season and this weekend.”
“I know we’ll have some fast trucks and I’m looking forward to fighting these two for some wins.”
