The Gilliland name has long been associated with stock car racing.
It all started on the West Coast during the late 1980s with Butch Gilliland eventually winning 13 races and the 1997 championship in what is now the ARCA Menards Series West. It continued with his son, David, who made 411 starts across NASCAR’s trio of national series between 2005 and 2023.
Now, the torch has been passed to the next generation as David Gilliland’s 24-year-old son, Todd, is in his third season of NASCAR Cup Series competition. He drives the No. 38 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports.
Obviously, Todd Gilliland was born into a racing family, but his parents allowed him to chart his own career path.
“Growing up around the sport was definitely huge for developing my love for it and all that stuff,” Gilliland shared with SPEED SPORT. “One of the things that I really appreciate about my family and all that is, I don’t feel like I was ever pushed to do racing.
“Even when I was younger, I really had to stay on my parents to keep trying to get into different race cars,” Gilliland continued. “It’s definitely amazing and super cool, and I’m very lucky for sure to have grown up around racing, to have a good understanding of it all.”
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