Kyle Busch’s Ex-Mentee Discloses the Pressure of Being Dubbed NASCAR’s ‘Next Greatest Thing’ Under Rowdy

Todd Gilliland’s NASCAR racing career has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride. From bursting onto the scene with two ARCA West Pro Series championship wins to then going under the radar at Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Truck Series. At the time, he was hailed as the next NASCAR star driver, but it seems like this pressure weighed too heavily on his shoulders.

Although he now finds solace driving for Front Row Motorsports in the Cup Series, he certainly wasn’t able to deliver his best runs in the Truck Series with KBM. And the reason Gilliland cited for the slump was that he was too concerned about living up to the hype of NASCAR’s next big thing.

Todd Gilliland reflects on his difficult times at KBM

On the back of strong runs in the ARCA West Series, Gilliland got a big breakthrough, elevating to the Truck Series, driving for Kyle Busch’s KBM team. But all the hype and expectation that was created by the media ultimately took its toll on the driver. Running the two full-time seasons driving the #4 truck, he was only able to get a single win in the 42 starts he made. With 10th and 11th place finishes in the championship standings, he was nowhere near competing for the title, as he did in the ARCA West Series.

Gilliland, in an interview with Bob Pockrass, opened up about his struggles in the early days of racing. And how the added pressure from the media didn’t help his cause find footing or strong runs. “Exactly. That’s what also made the couple of years at KBM that much tougher on me [with] the media, everyone … You’re young, probably a little bit naive to everything, the challenges ahead. That’s a super hard thing to go through. I think every young driver, for the most part, goes through it.”

The driver then moved to FRM, where he certainly found his groove back in the 2021 season. A total of eight top 5 finishes, including a win that saw him secure a Cup ride, and since then he’s gradually making progress. Acknowledging that he is past the lean patch, the driver added, “I still think we can do that. But it’s just going to be more of a process and a lot more learning curve. It definitely made the last four years tougher, but I feel like I’m definitely past that, and I feel like I’m just more focused on myself now.”

Not sure if Todd Gilliland is going to be the next big thing in NASCAR racing. But now he finds himself in a similar situation, with more expectations and responsibilities on his shoulders as FRM’s lead driver.

Front Row Motorsports trusts Gilliland to lead their NASCAR vision

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Talk about the topsy-turvy ride for the 24-year-old driver, he wasn’t even sure that he would be in a Cup Series seat past 2024. During the 2023 season, he even had to share the duties, taking over multiple rides to just complete his full season. However, now that Michael McDowell has decided to depart for Spire Motorsports after the end of the season, FRM has decided to put faith in Gilliland and offered him a multi-year extension deal, which he gladly accepted.

Having pushed through the hard times in his career so far, Gilliland is now looking forward to embarking on a new challenge. “Yeah, I’m ready. It’s going to be a lot. If this was last year or my first year, I would have certainly not been ready and I would have known that and have been super nervous about it. But now I’m really excited about it. I think it’s a good opportunity … Still a lot of unknowns, but I’m super excited to see where the progress of our team takes us.”

These certainly are interesting times for FRM and Todd Gilliland, but the question still remains, who will be the new faces joining the team as Gilliland’s teammates for the 2025 Cup Series season?