Todd Gilliland delivered a standout performance for Front Row Motorsports at the YellaWood 500, hosted at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, securing a second-place finish on Sunday in his eighth NASCAR Cup Series appearance at this storied 2.66-mile track. This result marked a personal milestone for Gilliland, surpassing his previous best finish of fourth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix in 2022 and highlighting the competitive efforts by Front Row Motorsports at this event.
Throughout the race, Gilliland worked his way up the ranks after placing 22nd in Stage One and seventh in Stage Two. By the conclusion of the race, his smart driving and ability to navigate the field brought him to a close battle for the victory. Gilliland, piloting the Ford Mustang, came up just short of the win but celebrated a personal and team achievement with the strong result.
“I’m definitely excited but maybe wishing a little bit what I could’ve done differently. I’m sure in 10 or 15 minutes it will sink in, and I’ll be pretty happy. I mean, that’s just the dream, right? To be in contention to win a race like this, and I certainly think we had everything to get it done in our Ford Mustang. We just came up a bit short.”
— Todd Gilliland, Driver
Teamwork was essential for Gilliland, as running with his teammates proved beneficial at key moments. He reflected on how cooperation with fellow Front Row Motorsports drivers influenced their strategy and race placement all the way to the finish.
“Yeah, it happened to work out right that I saw my teammates a lot today, and we work well together. I’m really proud of them and really happy with that. At the end, when it was me and Zane on the bottom lane, I was really hoping we could just get clear and take a one-two finish there, but it never comes that easy. We’ll keep building on all of those aspects for Martinsville and Phoenix.”
— Todd Gilliland, Driver
Zane Smith Adds Top-10 Finish to Strong Team Showing
Zane Smith, another prominent name for Front Row Motorsports, also made his mark at Talladega. Smith kicked off the afternoon with a seventh-place result in Stage One, followed by a finish of 22nd in Stage Two, ultimately bringing his car home in ninth place. Throughout the final stage, Smith’s crew made important strategy calls to stay in contention among the lead pack, demonstrating resilience and adaptability despite lacking top-end speed to fully capitalize in the closing laps.
Smith praised the full effort from his crew and highlighted the positive momentum heading into the next two pivotal races of the season.
“Overall, it was a solid day for this 38 team. I felt we executed on all cylinders and were in a really good position in the final stage to compete for the win, but we missed out on a little on speed to give Todd (Gilliland) a good push. Still really proud of this team though and we’ll take this momentum to that last two races.”
— Zane Smith, Driver
Noah Gragson Faces Early Exit Despite Fast Start
Noah Gragson, representing the Front Row Motorsports organization as well, experienced a difficult day at Talladega despite the team rolling out a competitive entry for the weekend. Gragson began the race in 36th position during both the first and second stages and was ultimately credited with a 36th-place result after being collected in a backstretch incident that cut his race short.
Gragson noted the promise the car showed early and the disappointment of not being able to translate their speed into a strong finish, focusing on upcoming races to close out the NASCAR Cup Series season on a high note.
“I’m proud of our team — we brought a fast car this weekend and had good speed early,”
said Gragson.
“We executed a great pit stop and got up front with Joey but got shoved in the wrong spot down the backstretch and it ended our day way too soon. It’s frustrating and unfortunate – we were looking like we had a lot of speed. We have two more opportunities to finish the season with strong races.”
— Noah Gragson, Driver
What This Means for Front Row Motorsports Moving Forward
The Front Row Motorsports Talladega Report underscores a significant weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, with Todd Gilliland registering a career-best finish, Zane Smith adding a valuable top-10, and Noah Gragson showing competitive pace before a premature exit. As the NASCAR Cup Series moves on to Martinsville and Phoenix, Front Row Motorsports carries momentum and renewed confidence from Alabama, highlighting the progress of drivers like Gilliland and Smith and setting their sights on strong showings to conclude the season.
