Todd Gilliland reveals advice he receives from his dad and grandfather

Over the last few years, Todd Gilliland has slowly built himself into a legit NASCAR Cup Series talent with Front Row Motorsports. When Gilliland entered the Cup Series with fellow rookies Harrison Burton and Austin Cindric, it was unclear how the trio would perform.

While Austin Cindric is the only one among the three with Cup Series wins, Todd Gilliland should not be overlooked. Going straight from the Truck Series to the big time, Gilliland has started to find his groove.

Of course, Gilliland comes from a NASCAR family. His father, David Gilliland, is one of the best underdog stories of the modern era. His grandfather, Butch, was a star on the Winston West circuit.

Through it all, the Gillilands have been car builders, team owners, and racers. So, what kind of advice does Todd get from his dad and grandfather? Well, not a lot. At least not now.

My dad is definitely not as involved as maybe he once was or maybe other families are of people that you see or hear about,” Todd Gilliland said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “Obviously, he’s really busy with his own stuff at the moment with a five-truck team. And it’s really cool to see him doing super well. We talk a lot, whether it’s about his stuff, our stuff, all that stuff. It’s definitely really nice to have some common ground to talk on.

“But at the same time, more recently we’ve been more just talking about normal stuff, father-son stuff. He’s more of a guy, if I ask him a question, he’ll always give me a really detailed answer and go really in-depth. But he’s not one to maybe just give me advice out of the blue.”

Todd Gilliland has improved slowly. Last season he wasn’t even with Front Row full-time. Now, the organization is ready to put him as the face of the organization after McDowell exits.

Seen as a road course and superspeedway driver, Gilliland has improved on short tracks and intermediates as well. He is strong at Martinsville, a top-10 last year in the second race of the season at The Paperclip.

In the last six races, you could argue that Todd Gilliland has been a top-15 driver overall. He has moved into P20 in the point standings. During that six-race stretch, he finished no worse than P17, which came in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600.