Top Dog: Todd Gilliland
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season has certainly been a roller coaster for Front Row Motorsports.
Still thick in the crossfire of a joint lawsuit with 23XI Racing filed against NASCAR, the team has had to navigate court cases, the departure of its veteran leader in Michael McDowell, the expansion to three cars and the bleak possibility of shuttering its doors depending on the chain of events in the lawsuit yet to occur.
In the midst of one scenario after the other that could divert the team’s attention away from its performance, FRM has displayed resiliency, continuing into the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday (Oct. 19), where Todd Gilliland came one spot short of victory lane in second.
After asserting himself as a threat for the win by fighting for the lead in the closing laps, Gilliland took an overtime restart from 10th. The 25-year-old remained glued to the outside over the final two laps, jumping to second on the top lane after shuffling up front. Receiving a push from Cole Custer, Gilliland made it three-wide for second in the tri-oval, edging Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace for the runner-up spot but fell short to race winner Chase Briscoe.
“Overall, the track got pretty wide there at the end,” Gilliland told Frontstretch. “When I was in the lead on the inside lane of two-wide, I felt like I was in a good place, and then that third lane came just flying around. That’s how it goes. These races are so dynamic and can change so much, so we’ll keep working on it.”
Disappointment was evident in Gilliland’s face despite recording his career-best Cup finish, as the sting of nearly winning settled in. However, the No. 34 was undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with down the stretch.
Scoring a top-10 stage finish by finishing stage two in seventh, Gilliland mixed up with the leaders for the entire final stage, pacing the field for 16 laps, which included a brief moment where FRM ran one-two between Gilliland and Zane Smith. But as soon as the two pulled the bottom lane, momentum decreased from some lack of pushing further back in the line, dropping them outside of the top five and ultimately costing Gilliland track position.
Nevertheless, on a day that was primarily focused on the playoff drivers, Gilliland was the best of the rest, nearly crashing the party while getting closer to his maiden victory.
Despite some choppy waters throughout the year, the Sherrills Ford, N.C. native has found his footing late in the season, and that will hopefully carry over into 2026 with FRM.
Notable Underdog Runs
You have to imagine the Cup Series’ most recent visit to a superspeedway was in the back of Custer’s mind, as he nearly won the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway.
And while he was unable to cash in with a win at Talladega, Custer turned heads once again with a fifth-place finish.
The Haas Factory Team driver kept his nose clean throughout the day, reserving himself in the first two stages before emerging late in the race. Custer took the white flag on the edge of the top 10, pushing his way forward on the final lap to reach fifth when the checkered flag flew.
Custer’s return to Cup has been a challenge with Haas standing as a shell of the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing. Yet, his top-five result was his third top 10 of the season, matching his total from 2022 and eclipsing his 2021 mark, both of which came with SHR. After contending for the win in three different superspeedway races, mark him as a dark horse for the 2026 Daytona 500 crown.
Carson Hocevar had anything but a smooth day, rebounding for a strong sixth-place effort.
Hocevar opened the race up with a ninth-place stage one result, recovering from a flat tire in the opening frame. Dodging the bullet only gave Hocevar more motivation, as he rocketed to third in stage two.
After receiving a speeding penalty to start the final stage, the reigning Rookie of the Year emerged in the closing laps, coming through on the outside lane to reach the top five. However, a push gone wrong on Chris Buescher sent Buescher spinning into the inside wall, setting up an overtime restart.
Hocevar restarted third, pushing William Byron for the lead. Falling back to fifth, Hocevar remained committed to the bottom, which lost momentum after Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on the backstretch with one lap remaining. The hiccup cost Hocevar a shot at contending for the win, and another shove resulted in the Spire Motorsports driver accidentally spinning Byron coming to the checkered flag.
Despite the tumult at times, the result was much needed for Hocevar, who had finished 29th or worse in the last three events.
Smith rounded out the top 10 for the underdogs, finishing ninth. With roughly a dozen laps remaining, Smith led a third lane to the front, taking the lead from his teammate, Gilliland. The two swapped the lead over the next handful of laps before the bottom faded backwards, leaving Smith stranded just inside the top 10, ultimately unable to get back to the point.
With the top 10, Smith has achieved a new career-high for single-season top 10s with five, leading the charge for FRM on that front.
Maybe we’re beating the same horse every week, but Shane van Gisbergen also keeps giving us a reason to discuss his oval improvement.
Van Gisbergen’s next target on the oval chopping block was to grow on drafting tracks, and he did just that at Talladega.
A five-time winner this season, van Gisbergen wasted no time roaring from a 31st-place starting spot to the top five within in the opening 20 laps.
However, it nearly unraveled in stage two.
In the midst of green flag pit stops on lap 112, van Gisbergen came with a larger group to the pits. While braking, the No. 88’s left-side tires caught a weeper that sprung up from morning showers, causing van Gisbergen to lose control, slide like it was a moment frozen in time, and coming to a stop in the infield grass.
Fortunately, van Gisbergen’s car was relatively unscathed, and after receiving the free pass shortly later, the Auckland, New Zealand native went back to work. SVG got as high as the top 10 in the closing laps before ultimately settling for 11th, scoring his best finish on a superspeedway and his third result of 11th or better in the last four races.
While both John Hunter Nemechek (14th) and pole sitter McDowell (17th) led laps (Nemechek led 11, McDowell led five) en route to top-20 showings, we have to take a moment to shine the light on Casey Mears.
If it’s flown under your radar this season, the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 winner has been making an effort to reach 600 career NASCAR starts, making appearances with Garage 66.
Talladega marked NASCAR start No. 599 for the 47-year-old, and it produced his best result in three starts this season by finishing 18th.
Mears experienced a corded tire earlier in the race, as well as falling a lap down at one point, but returned to the lead lap when a caution flew for Cody Ware with 23 laps left.
Over the final two stints of the race, Mears remained locked into either the bottom or middle lane, surging forward in the final laps to reach the top 20 and put a bow on the impressive effort.
With 599 starts under his belt, the Bakersfield, Calif. native is set to reach the milestone of 600 starts at Martinsville Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. van Gisbergen (–): For the third consecutive week, van Gisbergen is going nowhere in these rankings, as the New Zealander is putting a cherry on top of a successful rookie season. The power of this No. 88 locomotive has a strong chance of continuing into Martinsville as well, where he finished 12th in his track debut a year ago.
2. Hocevar (+1): If there’s an area that Hocevar and his Spire Motorsports team can point to that demonstrates his growth, it’s his improvement in resiliency, as the sophomore driver’s rebound from a flat tire has him one top 10 away from double digits. That may not come at Martinsville, where his best finish is 17th, but never say never.
3. McDowell (-1): It may not have been the “finish where you start” result for the pole sitter, but McDowell extended his top 20 streak to seven, with a real chance to keep it rolling through the final two races. The good news is McDowell finished 12th at Martinsville in the spring, which also stands has his career-best finish at The Paperclip.
4. Gilliland (NR): We were oh-so-close to another Talladega Cinderella story, compliments of an FRM driver, as Gilliland scored his career-best finish. The No. 38 team has been quietly consistent down the stretch of 2025, and that could continue into Martinsville, where Gilliland has a pair of top 10s and four top 15s in seven starts.
5. Smith (NR): Smith joins his FRM teammate Gilliland in the rankings with another solid top-10 showing. The 26-year-old has had a successful campaign in his transition over to FRM, and he will look to keep the ball rolling at Martinsville, where he finished 16th in the spring.
Honorable Mentions: Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Nemechek
Small Team Scheme of the Week
Hyak Motorsports is no stranger to rolling out some unique schemes for the Talladega fall race, and this year was no different.
Rumor has it that Sasquatch was seen on Talladega Boulevard, but you can’t believe everything you read, right?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. piloted this No. 47 Jack Links Non-Vegan Chevrolet in a scheme that urged fans to feed their “meaty” side with some beef jerky. The scheme certainly did the trick, though the jerky-themed machine didn’t make it in one piece after Stenhouse was collected in a stage one crash.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.