Gillilands celebrate Father’s Day with Knoxville win

With his NASCAR Cup Series rookie season currently in its bye week, Todd Gilliland decided to celebrate Father’s Day weekend by joining David Gilliland‘s team for a Camping World Truck Series one-off at Knoxville Raceway, and he gave Dad the perfect gift of a trip to Victory Lane.

Carson Hocevar, a weekly favourite who could never seem to find the luck to finish the deal and win his maiden race, saw his drought continue as he led the first sixty-five laps and won Stage #1 before his engine expired. Gililand assumed the lead which he held to claim the second stage.

Gilliland faced some resistance in Stage #3 from John Hunter Nemechek, but a late restart with ten laps remaining saw him hold off Nemechek to claim his third career Truck win. As a member of David Gilliland Racing, he now has four victories with one in the ARCA Menards Series and two in the now-ARCA Menards Series East.

Most of the race’s seven cautions were trucks stopping on the track or spinning save for two especially bizarre accidents. Jessica Friesen and Brett Moffitt channeled their inner Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater as the former hit the berm along the apron and flipped before landing on her wheels for a textbook heelflip, while the latter earned 200 points with a wallride after making contact with Tanner Gray on the frontstretch.

Buddy Kofoid was the highest finishing one-off dirt ringer in eleventh. His Kyle Busch Motorsports team-mate Nemechek won the first heat race while Gilliland’s DGR ally Hailie Deegan took the third. Gilliland’s victory came with momentum as he claimed the final heat.

Race results

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Status
1	9	17	Todd Gilliland*	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	150	Running
2	6	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	150	Running
3	15	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	150	Running
4	7	66	Ty Majeski	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	150	Running
5	4	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	150	Running
6	1	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann racing	Chevrolet	150	Running
7	21	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	150	Running
8	11	23	Grant Enfinger	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	150	Running
9	13	16	Tyler Ankrum	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	150	Running
10	3	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	150	Running
11	5	51	Buddy Kofoid	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	150	Running
12	20	98	Christian Eckes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	150	Running
13	10	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	150	Running
14	12	25	Matt DiBenedetto	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet	150	Running
15	8	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	150	Running
16	22	91	Colby Howard	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Chevrolet	150	Running
17	30	3	Dylan Westbrook	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet	150	Running
18	34	45	Lawless Alan	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	150	Running
19	28	56	Timmy Hill	Hill Motorsports	Toyota	150	Running
20	27	61	Chase Purdy	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota	150	Running
21	36	24	Jack Wood	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	149	Running
22	16	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford	149	Running
23	18	40	Dean Thompson	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	148	Running
24	24	30	Joey Gase*	On Point Motorsports	Toyota	148	Running
25	32	9	Blaine Perkins	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet	148	Running
26	17	02	Kaz Grala	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	148	Running
27	31	33	Brayton Laster	Reaume Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	147	Running
28	25	44	Kris Wright	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	145	Running
29	35	12	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	142	Running
30	33	43	Devon Rouse	Reaume Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	140	Running
31	29	20	Thad Moffitt	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet	139	Running
32	23	22	Brett Moffitt*	AM Racing	Chevrolet	124	Accident
33	26	46	Bryson Mitchell	G2G Racng	Toyota	110	Throttle
34	19	62	Jessica Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota	76	Brakes
35	2	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	66	Engine
36	14	41	Tyler Carpenter	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet	65	Driveshaft
DNQ		6	Norm Benning	Norm Benning Racing	Chevrolet
DNQ		53	Braden Mitchell	Sparks Motorsports	Chevrolet

Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points

Heat #1

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Laps	Status
1	2	4	John Hunter Nemechek	15	Running
2	8	19	Derek Kraus	15	Running
3	1	38	Zane Smith	15	Running
4	6	16	Tyler Ankrum	15	Running
5	4	22	Brett Moffitt	15	Running
6	3	30	Joey Gase	15	Running
7	5	20	Thad Moffitt	15	Running
8	7	43	Devon Rouse	15	Running
9	10	33	Brayton Laster	15	Running
10	9	6	Norm Benning	14	Running

Heat #2

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Laps	Status
1	5	42	Carson Hocevar	15	Running
2	1	18	Chandler Smith	15	Running
3	4	23	Grant Enfinger	15	Running
4	2	62	Jessica Friesen	15	Running
5	6	40	Dean Thompson	15	Running
6	7	88	Matt Crafton	15	Running
7	9	98	Christian Eckes	15	Running
8	10	46	Bryson Mitchell	15	Running
9	8	53	Braden Mitchell	15	Running
10	3	24	Jack Wood	15	Running

Heat #3

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Laps	Status
1	2	1	Hailie Deegan	15	Running
2	5	51	Buddy Kofoid	15	Running
3	7	99	Ben Rhodes	15	Running
4	6	41	Tyler Carpenter	15	Running
5	8	25	Matt DiBenedetto	15	Running
6	1	44	Kris Wright	15	Running
7	4	61	Chase Purdy	15	Running
8	9	3	Dylan Westbrook	15	Running
9	3	12	Spencer Boyd	15	Running

Heat #4

Finish	Start	Number	Driver	Laps	Status
1	1	17	Todd Gilliland	15	Running
2	4	66	Ty Majeski	15	Running
3	7	52	Stewart Friesen	15	Running
4	2	15	Tanner Gray	15	Running
5	3	91	Colby Howard	15	Running
6	8	02	Kaz Grala	15	Running
7	6	56	Timmy Hill	15	Running
8	5	9	Blaine Perkins	15	Running
9	9	45	Lawless Alan	15	Running

Points earned

Heat winner receives ten points, second gets nine, and so on. Each position gained from a driver’s starting spot rewards one point.

Start	Number	Driver	Total Points
1	19	Derek Kraus	15
2	42	Carson Hocevar	14
3	99	Ben Rhodes	12
4	52	Stewart Friesen	12
5	51	Buddy Kofoid	12
6	4	John Hunter Nemechek	11
7	66	Ty Majeski	11
8	1	Hailie Deegan	11
9	17	Todd Gilliland	10
10	18	Chandler Smith	9
11	23	Grant Enfinger	9
12	25	Matt DiBenedetto	9
13	16	Tyler Ankrum	9
14	41	Tyler Carpenter	9
15	38	Zane Smith	8
16	15	Tanner Gray	7
17	02	Kaz Grala	7
18	40	Dean Thompson	7
19	62	Jessica Friesen	7
20	98	Christian Eckes	6
21	88	Matt Crafton	6
22	91	Colby Howard	6
23	22	Brett Moffitt	6
24	30	Joey Gase	5
25	44	Kris Wright	5
26	46	Bryson Mitchell	5
27	61	Chase Purdy	4
28	56	Timmy Hill	4
29	20	Thad Moffitt	4
30	3	Dylan Westbrook	4
31	33	Brayton Laster	4
32	9	Blaine Perkins	3
33	43	Devon Rouse	3
34	45	Lawless Alan	2
35	12	Spencer Boyd	2
36	24	Jack Wood	1
DNQ	53	Braden Mitchell	2
DNQ	6	Norm Benning	1