CUP: Red-hot brakes lead to a hard hit for Gilliland in the Clash

PHOTOS: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles

by Brock Beard

LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief

Todd Gilliland finished last in Saturday’s Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum when his #38 Gener8tor Ford was involved in a single-car accident due to brake failure after 68 of 151 laps.

Just under a year ago, Gilliland turned heads with a remarkable save. Coming through Turns 1 and 2 in the final stages of Duel Race 2, Gilliland broke loose out of second place, and managed to regain control of his car, averting a costly pileup. He ultimately finished the season in the same points position as his rookie year – 28th in points – though he also showed flashes of brilliance at some of the series’ most difficult tracks. In a five-race stretch from March to April, he took 10th at COTA, 15th at Richmond, 8th on the Bristol Dirt Race, then 10th at Talladega. He soon after claimed 11th at Darlington, 11th at Watkins Glen, and 10th in the penultimate round at Martinsville.

Gilliland joined the 36 Chartered entries for the long journey west, set to kick off the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season with the third Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. But the threat of a massive rainstorm – one with a near 100% chance of storms from Sunday through Tuesday – called off much of the weekend’s events. Both the 25-lap heat races and Last Chance Qualifier were cancelled, meaning teams would practice, qualify, and race on Saturday.

In opening practice, Gilliland ranked 16th, and he would time in during the fifth of six four-minute group qualifying sessions. These would determine both the starting lineup and – with only 23 cars allowed in the 150-lap main – which 13 teams would make the early trip home. Gilliland looked to turn things around from a disappointing 2023 running of the Clash where both he and teammate Michael McDowell ran out of fuel in the final laps, placing him 23rd.

In Group 1 of qualifying, the slowest speed swapped between Austin Cindric in the #2 Freightliner Ford, Carson Hocevar in the #77 Delaware Life Chevrolet, then Zane Smith in the #71 Focused Health Chevrolet. Group 2 saw Ty Gibbs jump from slowest to fastest in his #54 Monster Energy Toyota, setting a new track record in the process. Smith’s #71 again dropped down the rankings, eventually passed by Tyler Reddick in the #45 Jordan Brand Toyota. Group 3 saw Alex Bowman threaten to take last from Smith until Bowman’s #48 Ally Chevrolet jumped to 3rd-fastest overall in the final seconds. In Group 4, the big rebound belonged to Brad Keselowski, whose #6 Castrol Edge Ford was behind Smith for the first 11 laps. It was after this session that the now 24th-place Smith was first to DNQ, joined by 23rd-place Austin Cindric.

Gilliland took his turn in Group 5, where he ran near the back until the final few seconds, when he and Noah Gragson in the #10 Rush Truck Centers Ford battling to be fastest in their group. Gilliland climbed to 17th overall, then took 14th after Gragson reached 16th an instant before time expired. Zane Smith still remained the slowest overall, shaken off near the end of Group 5 by Kaz Grala who leap-frogged into 29th in the #15 N29 Capital Partners Ford. Smith was also slowest at the end of the sixth and final group, where it took Chris Buescher 15 laps to climb out of last place in his #17 Fastenal Ford.

Securing the 23rd and final starting spot on points was none other than Ryan Blaney, last year’s Cup Series Champion, who struggled to put up a fast lap in his #12 Menards / Great Lakes Flooring Ford. Blaney ranked no higher than 26th, but locked himself into the race. Fellow Final Four contender Christopher Bell wasn’t so fortunate, his #20 Mobil 1 Toyota missing the cut as he inched from 35th to 33rd near the end of the final group. Joining Bell on the DNQ list were Josh Williams, who put up a fast lap in Group 1 in the #16 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet. Williams missed the field by the narrowest of margins – Chase Briscoe was just slightly quicker through Turns 3 and 4, securing the 22nd an final spot on field. Along with Williams came Carson Hocevar in the #77, Josh Berry in the #4 SunnyD Ford, Daniel Suarez in the #99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 2023 Clash runner-up Austin Dillon in the #3 BetMGM Chevrolet, Erik Jones in the #43 Family Dollar Toyota, Chris Buescher in the #17, Austin Cindric’s #2, Daniel Hemric in the #31 Cirkul Chevrolet, Kaz Grala’s #15, Harrison Burton in the #21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford, and Zane Smith, slowest overall in the #71.

When the race started, Blaney inched ahead of John Hunter Nemechek’s #42 Dollar Tree Toyota, which was 4.974 seconds back of the lead and 0.410 behind the #12. Nemechek then caught and passed Blaney on Lap 4, opening a 0.370 second gap. By Lap 6, Blaney was gaining on Nemechek, his crew telling him to concentrate on corner exit. By Lap 15, Blaney had again dropped Nemechek to last, but the #42 kept Blaney in sight.

On Lap 26, the spot fell to Noah Gragson’s #10, which had slipped back to 21st three laps earlier. This put Gragson in the sights of race leader Denny Hamlin, who got under him in Turns 3 and 4 to render his Ford the first car one lap down. Gragson then fought to get to the inside line, where faster traffic was rushing past, dropping him further back. On Lap 42, he briefly battled with 17th-place running Brad Keselowski, but was soon caught by the leaders again. When this happened on Lap 50, Ty Gibbs had caught Hamlin for the lead, and the pair put him a second lap down off Turns 3 and 4.

A few spots ahead, John Hunter Nemechek was gradually picking up spots, looking to get the Lucky Dog from Corey LaJoie in the 19th spot. He moved ahead of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the #47 Food4Less / Ralphs / Cheerios Chevrolet, then also caught and passed Todd Gilliland. Fighting his way around the track with his front brake rotors glowing cherry-red, Gilliland was just in front of leader Gibbs as he entered Turn 1 on Lap 69. Just then, Gilliland spun 180 degrees and slammed the wall with the left-front wheel. The impact appeared minor, but the driver soon climbed from his car, which was towed into the infield. By this point, Gragson was still in last, now three laps down, and with caution laps not counting, it wasn’t until the Lap 72 restart that Gragson dropped Gilliland to last.

The view from inside Gilliland’s car after it was towed to the infield. SCREENSHOT: NASCAR Drive

Gragson climbed to 20th by the checkered flag, four laps down to race winner Hamlin. He first cleared Chase Elliott, whose #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet struck the Turn 2 wall, causing suspension damage. Justin Haley turned strong laps in both practice (ranking 10th) and qualifying (reaching 5th overall while clocking in during Group 3) in his first race for Rick Ware Racing. But just before he could be lapped with just 15 to go, Haley’s #51 Walmart Health & Wellness Ford suddenly slowed off Turn 4 and pulled behind the wall, out with engine trouble. Haley just managed to inch into the infield moments before Michael McDowell spun and backed into the wall in a manner similar to his teammate, leaving him two laps down in 19th.

LASTCAR STATISTICS

*This marked the first last-place finish for the #38 in the history of the Clash.

THE BOTTOM FIVE

23) #38-Todd Gilliland / 68 laps / brakes

22) #9-Chase Elliott / 77 laps / steering

21) #51-Justin Haley / 135 laps / engine

20) #10-Noah Gragson / 147 laps / running

19) #34-Michael McDowell / 149 laps / running