MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Sunday's Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway determined the four drivers who will battle for the championship next weekend. It also showcased the progress the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team has made this season.
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This group has recovered from midseason finishes outside of the top 30 and posted an average finish of 18.0 in the last nine races. This stretch includes Todd Gilliland's best career finish, second place at Talladega Superspeedway.
"I feel like just getting everybody on the same page — we've mixed up our group a little bit, probably three weeks ago — and I feel like that's been a huge positive for us," crew chief Chris Lawson told FanBuzz in the garage area after Gilliland finished ninth at Martinsville Speedway.
"And everybody's head's in the same place, and we're all pulling the rope the same direction. And it's all the things that this takes, right? Like, you can't have one piece out of place. So, I feel like that's the biggest thing for us.
"We're getting those pieces in place, and we're still not even there yet. I mean, I feel like we've still got a long way to go, but we're already starting to see the results, and Todd's starting to see the confidence."
#NASCAR - Lost in the shuffle of the Championship 4 battle was the fact that Todd Gilliland spent the entire day running 5th-9th.
He and @Team_FRM delivered a standout day, and he set a new career-high for top-10 finishes. pic.twitter.com/sFHpwGaiMN— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) October 26, 2025
When Gilliland crossed the finish line at the Virginia short track, he capped off one of the most complete performances of his NASCAR career. He had qualified in the front half of the field, scored eight stage points, and spent the majority of 500 laps running between fifth and ninth place.
Gilliland didn't have the balance he necessarily needed on the final 11-lap run to close out the race, but he still scored a top-10 finish.
This marked the first time in his career that he had scored back-to-back top-10s at the Cup level, and it set a new career-best mark for the number of top-10s in a single season (five).
"Man, it feels good," Gilliland told FanBuzz on pit road. "Man, over 500 laps here at Martinsville, so much can happen. We started 16th, moved up really quickly, kind of that just on the cusp of top 10, and then that whole last run we were mediocre. We caught a really good caution there where we didn't pit, and the yellow came out during the cycle.
"Yeah, I feel like, I mean, overall everything went well. I'm very proud of my team, right. You take these days for granted when you execute everything, but it's small things. We made my car way better than yesterday, my team felt confident about it. It was good. I'm just really proud of my whole team. We've really stepped up our performance kind of over the last six weeks or so."
Gilliland posting a top-five finish at Talladega a week ago is not much of a surprise. He has made eight starts at the Alabama track as a Cup driver and posted four top-10 finishes. He has proven to be a solid superspeedway racer in his Cup career.
Similarly, he has run well at Martinsville during his career while challenging for top-10 finishes. This season alone, he posted top-10 finishes in both races.
The playoff race just served as a highwater mark considering that he and his team remained in contention the entire race while other drivers in the field wrecked each other, erred on pit road, or dealt with mechanical failures.
"It's just execution, man," said Lawson, who previously won a Truck Series championship with Zane Smith. "Pit road, no mistakes. Todd, no mistakes. Not speeding, not putting himself in a bad spot on the racetrack.
"I mean, it literally takes every single corner. You have to execute a perfect day here to finish top 10 and have a shot at the top five, let alone a win or anything like that. So, I feel like all that came together well."
Gilliland has set career-best marks in his first season working with Lawson on the revamped No. 34 team. Now, he has another opportunity ahead of him. He next heads to Phoenix Raceway, a track where he has made seven starts with a best finish of 17th (2024, 2025).
If he can surpass this mark and potentially score another top-10 finish, he will close out a career season. Even if he falls short of a top-10, he and Lawson will still head into the offseason with the knowledge that they will continue working together in 2026.
The stage is set for them to showcase even more progress early next season as Front Row Motorsports keeps the pieces in place. The team recently announced that its full driver lineup (Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Zane Smith) will return in 2026.
"Man, it's bigger than people realize, I think," Lawson said. "Keeping things the same, good notes, building a good base with the guys that you're around every week. And the driver — all three drivers, we have really good chemistry among all three crew chiefs and drivers, and I feel like that adds value as well.
"To keep that the same, keep building on that, man, I feel like that's why you get these monster organizations that are so good. Joe Gibbs and (Rick) Hendrick and these guys that have been there for years and years. They have a really good note base and a feel for everything that they need, and that's what we're starting to build at Front Row Motorsports."
