NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Todd Gilliland entered the $1 million In-Season Challenge as an underdog that many expected to be eliminated in the opening round at Sonoma Raceway.
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Yet, four weeks later, he is one of two drivers remaining in contention for the prize. He has locked up a spot in the In-Season Challenge finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He will race Ryan Blaney for $1 million.
"I can't," Gilliland said when asked if he could believe he had made the final round. "I was thinking about it my whole drive up here. I'm like, 'Wow, two people, right?' ...I mean, we're big underdogs, and we'll see.
"But now one person, right? Anything could happen. His engine could blow up, Lap 1, and you know, it could be the same for us. But it's just crazy when you're racing one person. Yeah, really, anything can happen, and I'm excited about it."
.@ToddGilliland_ had a car capable of running in the mid-teens, but the team took advantage of strategy to stay on the lead lap and race inside the top 10.
From that point on, they delivered a mistake-free race and locked up an opportunity to race for $1 million. pic.twitter.com/A046Z7yWWR— John Newby (@JohnNewby_) July 20, 2026
The No. 34 team didn't have the fastest car in the field over 450 laps at North Wilkesboro Speedway, but they advanced to the final round by following the same blueprint from Sonoma Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
They delivered mistake-free performances and just completed all of the laps while their respective competitors fell victim to mistakes and other incidents.
He did exactly that at Sonoma while upsetting past winner Daniel Suarez (finished 31st). He did it again at Chicagoland by beating Carson Hocevar (finished 22nd). He then beat Alex Bowman at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing 19th. Bowman finished 22nd after being collected in a crash.
The race at North Wilkesboro Speedway served as a fitting example. When drivers made their pit stops in stage 2, Gilliland and the No. 34 team ran long. This paid off as the caution flew for an incident involving Tyler Reddick and Bowman.
NOT CLEAR! NOT CLEAR!
The Nos. 45 and 48 make contact as @Alex_Bowman attempts to come to pit road. pic.twitter.com/UbCv68zgsG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 20, 2026
At that point, only 12 cars remained on the lead lap. This included Gilliland. Meanwhile, his opponent in the semifinal round, Chase Elliott, remained trapped two laps behind the leaders after making his pit stop.
Elliott, who had reached second place before making his pit stop, never returned to the lead lap despite having 267 laps remaining in the race. He had to spend the rest of the race just riding around in the middle of the pack.
Elliott finished 17th and three laps behind the leaders. Gilliland finished eighth. He remained on the lead lap for the rest of the race, and the team avoided critical mistakes.
Once again, they just went about their business.
"We didn't pit when others did, caught that caution," Gilliland explained. "Kind of jumped us up into the top 10, and we kind of hung on.
"Hung on, you know, in the top 10 from there. Just yeah, really mistake-free day, and kind of executed all things in our power."
The Cinderella run continues for Gilliland and Front Row Motorsports, but the toughest task remains. They will have to finish ahead of Blaney at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track owned by Roger Penske.
Gilliland has run well in two starts at the track — he finished sixth in both the 2024 and 2025 Brickyard 400s. Yet, he will still enter the weekend as the underdog.
That's perfectly fine for him as he tries to win $1 million for his team.
"It's fun, actually," Gilliland said about being the underdog. "Yeah, I would probably rather not be the underdog than just a guy that's actually running good consistently. But maybe one day.
"We'll take the underdog position for now, and yeah, hopefully won't be forever."
