Gilliland Earns First Top-Five Finish of the Season at Atlanta

Start: 12th (random drawing)
Finish: 4th

• Stage One: 11th
• Stage Two: 5th
• Stage Three: 4th

• Todd Gilliland started the 130-lap race at Atlanta Motor Speedway 12th based on a random drawing since there was no practice, or qualifying. He spent most of the first stage feeling out the Mannington Ford F-150 and getting a feel for the track. Early on he experienced radio issues where he could hear the team, but they could not hear him. He signaled the truck was loose and he pitted for fresh tires and adjustments when the stage ended on lap 30.
• Gilliland restarted sixth for the next 30-lap stage. He hung around the top five and moved into second place when some of the leaders pitted during a caution just before the stage break. He ended the second stage in fifth place and then pitted for four tires and a slight adjustment to the No. 38 Mannington Ford.
• Since the trucks that had pitted before the stage break stayed out, Gilliland was 19th when the final stage began. He did not stay back there for long, as he was up to 10th by lap 75, and was fifth with 40 laps to go. He was fourth in the closing laps, but when Chase Elliott spun in front of him with three laps to go, Gilliland had a shot at the win. He pitted for new tires and lined up second for the restart next to Austin Hill. Gilliland did not get the restart he wanted, but held his own for the final two laps to finish fourth. It was the team's best finish of the 2020 season to date.

Gilliland on Atlanta: "I'm proud of the race we put together today. We started 12th and finished fourth. We started on the front row for the final restart, which is all you could ask for, but I messed up and didn't get the restart I needed, but if you keep putting yourself in those positions eventually everything will go your way. I've just got to learn from it. I feel like our Mannington Ford F-150 was good and we were a contender. I'm really proud of the race we put together and we just need to keep clicking them off like that."