Young Gilliland gets assist from Dad in K&N Series victory

Todd Gilliland had the car to get to victory lane Friday night in the NASCAR K&N Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway.

But until his father David Gilliland helped him with his approach on restarts, Gilliland may not have had what it took to win.

Fortunately, the youngest Gilliland listened to dad, and the assist helped Todd Gilliland overtake Kyle Benjamin on a restart on lap 87, and the teenager did the rest.

Gilliland led the final 63 laps and 116 laps in all as he cruised to the victory in the Casey’s General Stores 150.

“The restarts were pretty big tonight. I didn’t do the best on the first couple of restarts, then my dad, on the radio, told me to be more patient,” Todd Gilliland said. “That definitely helped, and it eventually got us back up front.”

David Gilliland is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who recently lost his full-time ride. He was his son’s spotter on top of the roof Friday night, and his assistance helped push Todd Gilliland to a fourth win this season.

It also sent his son into the points lead in the NASCAR K&N Series’ West standings. Gilliland was racing at Iowa Speedway for the first time, too.

“It’s always easier to do well at a new track when you have a car that’s good right off the trailer,” Gilliland said. “That’s what helped me the most tonight.”

Gilliland (336) overtook Ryan Partridge (333) by three points at the top of the West standings. It was the seventh top-five finish for Gilliland this season. Partridge secured his sixth top-five result after placing fifth.

Benjamin took second overall and earned first-place points in the East series. East driver Austin Theriault finished third, while East driver Collin Cabre took fourth.

Benjamin (383) closed his gap from East leader Justin Haley. Haley (415) started sixth and finished seventh but remains on the top of the East standings by 32 points. Theriault started third, finished third and is third in the East standings.

Spencer Davis and Hunter Baize moved up to fourth and fifth, respectively, in the East standings. Davis finished 15th on Friday, while Baize crossed in eighth.

Noah Gragson is competing full-time in both the East and West this year. He had to declare a series for Friday’s combination race, so he only received points for his West championship run.

Gragson entered the weekend in the top five in both circuits, but he fell out of the top five in the East. He is currently third in the West after starting 22nd and finishing 13th on Friday.

Chris Eggleston and Gracin Raz are fourth and fifth in the West standings, respectively. Eggleston had a tough day, starting 14th and finishing 25th. Raz finished ninth after starting 17th.

Benjamin had the fastest practice lap earlier in the day and won the pole for the start.

Benjamin led the first 26 laps and had a great one-on-one battle with Gilliland most of the way. But once Gilliland made the final pass on lap 87, he pulled away for the easy win.

“Me and the 40 (Kyle Benjamin) had pretty good battles there,” Gilliland said. “It was great racing with him and everyone there. We got away a little bit, before halfway, but we knew we still needed to make adjustments. We make good ones at the halfway break, and I think it showed at the end.”

Benjamin dealt with a flat tire during the mandatory competition caution on lap 75. His No. 40 Ranier Racing Chevrolet team was forced to loosen up the car, but the adjustment wasn’t enough.

“He was tough to beat,” Benjamin said of Gilliland. “He got around us on top. I was tight behind him and couldn’t get the speed at the top that he had. He got away from us.

“I had a flat tire on the halfway break. We had to loosen it up at that point, but we didn’t want to. We had to because of the flat tire. That hurt our chances. We just weren’t loose enough at the end.”

Gilliland was the leader when the drivers pitted during the competition caution at the halfway point. Benjamin was second followed by Cabre, Riley Herbst and Theriault.

Herbst, who is now sitting eighth in the West standings, worked his way up to second before a caution at lap 92, but ended up sixth at the end of the race.

Herbst stayed in the second position until around lap 110. Theriault and Partridge rallied for top-five finishes after driving in the sixth and eighth positions with 40 laps to go. Partridge was still in the seventh position with 20 laps remaining.

West driver Jesse Little started fourth and got up to third at one point. He fell off toward the end of the race and finished in 11th.

Gilliland’s win was the third straight victory at Iowa Speedway for a K&N Pro Series driver in a NAPA Auto Parts car. Brandon McReynolds, who represented the West Series in 2015, drove to victory lane twice last year in a similar looking car.

“It’s always good to come out here and get a win for the West coast,” Gilliland said. “I have raced in some of the East races but coming out here and racing these guys is always a good thing. We are all trying to gain respect.”