Top Dog: Todd Gilliland
Fresh off a career-best finish from a week ago at Talladega Superspeedway, Todd Gilliland‘s journey to keep the momentum got off to a unique start at Martinsville Speedway.
Ahead of Saturday’s practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series event at the Paperclip on Sunday (Oct. 26), Gilliland’s Front Row Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson decided to take the team’s prevalence for pranks to a new level, locking Gilliland in a porta potty.
After quite the struggle to free him, Gilliland was finally bailed out. Whether that impacted his performance in the race or not has not been confirmed, but it may have helped light a fire under him, for lack of better words.
The FRM driver backed up his runner-up finish at Talladega with another top 10, finishing ninth at the half-mile gem.
Starting in 16th, Gilliland quickly carved his way into the top 10, reaching the mark in stage one and settling into ninth at the end of the stage.
The opening act was only a precursor to the remainder of the Sherrills Ford, N.C. native’s day, as he continued to hold strong inside the top 10. A caution with just over 15 laps remaining in the second stage split the field’s strategy, with Gilliland staying out while a few others pitted. That opened the door for him to gain even more track position, and Gilliland cashed in with a fifth-place stage finish.
The first half of the final stage saw the handling on the “Pickle Car” sour a little bit, as Gilliland fell out of the top 10 and reported his car was the worst it had been all day. However, he stayed in the top 15 despite the struggle, and it paid off in the long run.
A caution on lap 177 fell in the middle of green flag pit stops, of which Gilliland had yet to complete. The yellow found the No. 34 running in third at the time while several drivers were trapped a lap down, allowing Gilliland to pit for fresh tires and restart in fourth.
Despite other drivers taking the wave around, as well as a couple of additional yellows that reset the running order, Gilliland held his ground inside the top 10, riding a wave of momentum to consecutive top 10s for the first time in his career.
After assuming FRM’s flagship car entering the season, Gilliland’s campaign felt lacking at times this season as the team continues to navigate a joint lawsuit with 23XI Racing against NASCAR. However, the tide has turned in the second half of the season, and the statistics are finally trending up for the 25-year-old.
The third-generation racer achieved a new career-high in top 10s by earning his fifth of the season in Martinsville. And while his current points standing is six positions lower than 2024, the result helped pad an average finish that also stands as a career-high for Gilliland (20.8).
With FRM announcing its crop of drivers, including Gilliland, will return next season, as well as optimism that the organization will be racing next year, Gilliland is laying the foundation for a potentially stronger 2026 season.
Notable Underdog Runs
It was mentioned in last week’s column that Shane van Gisbergen‘s recent oval boon set him up well for Martinsville success, and that came to fruition at the Paperclip.
After finishing 12th in his track debut last fall, van Gisbergen backed it up with another top 15 this year, finishing 14th in the 500-lap event.
Like Gilliland, SVG got off to the races immediately, rocketing from 22nd to the top 15 in the opening stage. In his frenzy to the front, van Gisbergen was not allergic to using the ol’ chrome horn, displaying a controlled aggression that makes him so good on road courses.
Martinsville’s heavy braking zones resemble some of the features of van Gisbergen’s road prowess, and it certainly played into his hands throughout the race. By the end of stage one, the New Zealander had improved to 12th. The No. 88’s steam engine continued to roll in stage two, where he reached eighth at the conclusion of the second frame.
Van Gisbergen continued to battle inside the front dozen in the final stage, looking like a threat to crack the top 10 by the end before fading down the stretch.
Still, it is becoming a weekly theme to see the 36-year-old running in the front half of the field on an oval, and it shows in the results too, as van Gisbergen logged his third top 15 in the past four oval events. Ironically, he has mirrored the statistics of his veteran teammate Daniel Suarez, as both Trackhouse Racing drivers have a 20.9 average finish to go along with seven top 10s.
Cole Custer entered Martinsville with a load of confidence, commenting recently that the Virginia short track had been circled on the team’s calendar for quite some time.
The emphasis placed on the race showed up in the team’s performance, as Custer delivered a 17th-place result after spending much of the race inside the top 15.
The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion kicked off the weekend on a high note by qualifying sixth, his second-best starting position of the season. From there, Custer finished the opening frame in 14th.
In stage two, things were nearly turned upside down when a game of bumper tag went awry for Custer, spinning off the nose of Josh Berry on lap 232. In spite of the incident, Custer remained on the lead lap and quickly shook off the hiccup.
Not only did the aforementioned caution on lap 177 benefit Gilliland, but it also aided Custer, who was able to return to the top 10 in seventh for the restart. The final 100 laps saw the 27-year-old lose some balance, but he managed to hang on to earn a solid top 20. It is Custer’s third top 20 in the past five races.
Though he may be in a lame duck situation, Justin Haley proved he won’t fold in the closing races as he prepares to exit Spire Motorsports at the end of the season. The Winamac, Ind. native rebounded from a pit stop issue and a penalty for removing equipment to finish 19th.
Haley spent much of the race floundering outside of the top 25. However, some well-timed yellows in the final stage opened the door for Haley to make adjustments and gain track position, closing the deal with his first top 20 at Martinsville.
Tracking the Trucks at Martinsville: Truck No. 11 Scores Win No. 11 as Championship 4 Set in Nail-Biter
It was a special weekend for Casey Mears, who not only made his coveted 600th NASCAR national series start, but also made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in doing so. Mears competed with MBM Motorsports in the race, finishing 24th.
That was only the beginning of a double-duty weekend for the 47-year-old, who strapped into a Cup car for start number 493 with Garage 66 after earning a top 20 at Talladega with the team. Mears went on to finish 33rd.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. van Gisbergen (–): Van Gisbergen delivered on expectations by bringing home a top 15 at a Martinsville track he has quickly adapted to. The Kiwi’s recent string of oval track success continues to sharpen him into an even more formidable force for next season. The soon-to-be crowned Rookie of the Year will close his season at Phoenix Raceway, where he finished 31st in his debut in the spring,
2. Gilliland (+2): After a tumultuous first three quarters of the season at times, Gilliland is going into full sprint mode to close the 2025 season. The top dog in back-to-back weeks, Gilliland will go for three in a row in the Phoenix desert, where he matched his track-best finish of 17th in the spring.
3. Michael McDowell (–): McDowell never recovered from a risky strategy call to take two tires in stage one, finding himself in the middle of a hornet’s nest on multiple occasions en route to a 24th-place result. The 40-year-old will return to Phoenix to close out his first season with Spire Motorsports. a track where he owns a pair of top 10s in the Next Gen era.
4. Carson Hocevar (-2): Hocevar’s race was … a struggle, to say the least. A pair of spins embodied a day where the No. 77 looked like a pinball, and the sophomore driver limped away in 31st. Resiliency has been a strength of this team, however, and Hocevar will look to earn his fourth top 20 in five tries at Phoenix.
5. Custer (NR): Like Gilliland, Custer has somewhat of a surge in his performance down the stretch given the dynamics of where Haas is at. Martinsville was one of his more impressive performances of the season, and he will look to close out his return to Cup on a high note at Phoenix, where he has finished 16th or better in seven starts.
Honorable Mentions: Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek
Small Team Scheme of the Week
If you are a Texas A&M supporter, it was a great week to be a fan of the Aggies. Not only did the school’s football team reach 8-0 for the first time in over three decades, but the familiar burgundy and gray colors adorned Custer’s No. 41 at Martinsville.
Promoting “A Force for Good” that emphasizes the school’s accolades in training students in areas such as engineering, scientific research, and data analysis, the collaboration proved successful, supporting Custer in his run to a top 20.
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.