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Todd Gilliand: 2025 NASCAR Driver Profile

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | Last updated Jan 31, 2025 12:15 PM ET

[Editor’s note: The following article is from Athlon Sports’ 2025 Racing Annual magazine. Order your copy online today, or buy one at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

Not every young driver who enters the Cup Series is an overnight success. While it’s true some youngsters win right away, the learning curve is steep, especially for a driver racing for a team that doesn’t have money to burn.

As Todd Gilliland enters his fourth full-time season in NASCAR’s top division with Front Row Motorsports, it feels like he’s making exactly the progress he should as part of an organization with a smaller budget than the powerhouse teams.

FRM made the playoffs in 2021 and 2023 while posting solid race results. In fact, it’s arguably the best of the smaller teams in the garage – and Ford has noticed, upping its factory support dramatically. The organization still lacks enough big-name sponsors to go around, but it isn’t racing with plain white cars, either.

Todd Gilliand 2024 stats

Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	DNF
36	0	0	4	0	3

Following the departure of longtime veteran Michael McDowell, Gilliland moves to the stable’s flagship No. 34 team with continued backing from Love’s Travel Stops, among others. That’s a nice vote of confidence for a driver who is just 24 years old entering the season.

And this youngster has time to grow, with his first three years tracking the pattern a young driver should. Gilliland has improved each year in average finish, average start, and finishing races as well as lead-lap finishes. That steady growth indicates Gilliland has soaked in information while learning from McDowell’s veteran support.

By the end of 2024, Gilliland had upped his average finish by three spots compared to his 2022 rookie campaign. That launched him from 28th to 22nd in points, the fourth-best result since FRM first entered the Cup Series in 2005.

Gilliland led a career-best 130 laps last year. While not a huge number, it’s more than Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, or Harrison Burton – all of whom raced in the playoffs. The more experience and confidence Gilliland gets racing up front, the easier it will become for him to do it more often.

You could even make the case 2024 turns out differently if Gilliland wins the Daytona 500 or Atlanta the following week; he led 74 laps combined in those events. From there, Gilliland wound up with just four top 10s, but he ran better than those finishes show.

Todd Gilliand career stats

Years	Starts	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles
3	108	0	1	10	0

FRM’s internal consistency, the key to their growth, is challenged in 2025 by fresh faces. Gilliland will have a new crew chief in Chris Lawson and two new teammates. With the additions of Noah Gragson and Zane Smith, suddenly it’s Gilliland having the most experience in Cup, assuming McDowell’s “veteran” role on the team. Will he be ready for it?

Overall, what you see with Gilliland and the No. 34 team is what you get: a decently talented and still very young driver paired with a mid-tier team hoping to grow with him. We’ll see if they do.

The Todd Gilliand file

Car: No. 34 Ford

Team: Front Row Motorsports

Crew chief: Ryan Bergenty

Years with current team: 4

Best points finish: 22 (2024)

Hometown: Sherrills Ford, North Carolina

Born: May 15, 2000

Scouting report

Anonymous takes from drivers, crew chiefs, and assorted industry insiders:

Todd took a big step this year,” says one Cup Series crew chief. “They’re in the top 20 every week and it wasn’t that long ago that he was struggling to win Truck Series races – and that was in Kyle Busch’s trucks. It seems like he’s building confidence and has found a good home.”

“I love racing with Todd,” says a fellow driver. “He’s clean, you know what to expect of him, and is totally professional. I hope he gets more opportunities because he’s turned into a really good racecar driver.”

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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