Todd Gilliland has hailed the efforts of his team in getting him over the line to win the second NASCAR In-Season Challenge, and its $1m prize.
The Front Row Motorsports star was seeded just 25th for the single elimination tournament when it began a month ago, but worked his way through and took advantage of some other drivers' misfortune to win the $1m cheque on Sunday at the Brickyard 400.
Gilliland had another stroke of luck at Indianapolis when Ryan Blaney got wrecked by John Hunter Nemechek in the final stage, sending him to the pits twice to get his car fixed up and putting him behind his In-Season rival.
Blaney did go on a brief charge with his damaged car, finishing just two places behind Gilliland in 26th and making sure that the No. 34 team couldn't relax for a moment in the closing laps.
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Gilliland: Team unlocked another level in In-Season run
Gilliland admitted in his post-race press conference that his own 24th place finish in the race was a reflection of he and his team's struggles at a track where they have a good recent history, saying: "It was a tough day for us, to be honest with you, the team as a whole.
"Yeah, I thought that was kind of our whole MO through this whole thing, we were barely scraping by, even today, right? It took a bit of bad luck clearly from the No. 12. My heart was pounding those last 25 laps. It was me, the No. 16 and the No. 12. Yeah, still seemed like one slip-up and I was going to be right in front of the No. 12 or right behind him even coming down to the very end.
"Yeah, I still feel like we kind of earned it coming down the stretch. Yeah, I think I kind of talked about it before, but the biggest thing for me that was really cool through this whole process was seeing how my team really elevated themselves, really grabbed another gear.
"They worked super, super hard, long hours for this week, just really ramped up throughout this whole in-season challenge. I think it’s cool. They unlocked another level within themselves."
Does he have some plans for the $1m prize yet? "I’ve not," he said. "I think the $1m goes to the team. Yeah, I honestly don’t know how much I’m going to get. I definitely believe it’s going to be the biggest payday of my life so far."
Gilliland reveals reaction to Blaney wreck in $1m race
Asked what his immediate thought was when Blaney wrecked, Gilliland said: "Yeah, well, man, that was kind of right when we finally were able to stay with the pack. Even at the beginning we weren’t very good. Honestly weren’t good enough to be up there battling on the restarts.
"I was nose to tail with five other cars in front of me. I just see a little bit of yellow out of the right side of my eye. I was like, man, even if he just spins here, he’s going to be back in the pack. Obviously it’s pretty tough to pass once you get settled in. Then he hit the nose. I was like, alright, maybe that will slow him down a little bit. Maybe it did a little bit, but he was just as fast as us.
"It’s one of those things where you never cheer against someone. After it’s over with, you’re like, alright, that definitely helped us out. Now we definitely need to take advantage of it."
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