By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For David Gilliland, a lot of what made Friday’s Camping World Truck Series start special was the fact he was competing against son Todd for the first time in a NASCAR series.
And after 210 laps in the JEGS 200 from Dover International Speedway, it was the dad who saw the checkered first.
But the two didn’t go the whole day without seeing each other under green.
“Racing with Todd, that’s a dream come true,” David said. “Really wanted to accomplish two objectives today and one was to race with Todd.”
Gilliland drove his self-owned No. 54 DGR-Crosley Toyota for the first time in 2018 and started the race from the ninth spot. The veteran ran consistently in the top 10 throughout the day, finishing eighth and ninth in the race’s two stages.
The solid pace was nearly ripped from their hands, as the new team had multiple pit road issues, including a penalty late that cost Gilliland the race lead.
“We had pit problems every stop and lost multiple, multiple positions,” he said. “But that’s what we’re here to do, evaluate our team and keep it growing.”
Though a fourth-place finish may have surprised onlookers, 42-year-old Gilliland expected nothing less.
“I felt our equipment was that,” he said of fourth place. “If we had the track position, we passed more trucks than anyone today.
“Our truck could pass people but it took five to 10 laps. We needed to be on the bottom, so when we were on the top, I knew we were just going to have to hang on. We needed more laps.”
Grabbing the team’s second top-five finish of 2018, the team owner leaves Dover happy, yet, unsure about when he will next race.
“I feel really good,” he said. “A really good day. It’s easy to be disappointed about the things that went wrong. No other races planned, that’s up to the team owner [laughs].”