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NASCAR is known as a family sport, and this year’s competitors sparring for the $1 million in the In-Season Challenge exemplify that observation as both are third-generation drivers.
Ryan Blaney’s father, Dave, competed in 473 NASCAR Cup, 121 O’Reilly Auto Parts, and three Craftsman Truck series races while his grandfather Lou was a legendary Dirt Modified and Sprint Car driver. Lou won more than 600 feature races during his career and was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame.
Todd Gilliland’s father, David, competed in 333 NASCAR Cup, 56 O’Reilly Auto Parts, and 22 Craftsman Truck series races while his grandfather Butch won the 1997 NASCAR Winston West Series championship. Butch also competed in 10 NASCAR Cup, and a dozen Craftsman Truck series races.
“We’re very fortunate that we get to do what our family did and what our fathers did,” Blaney said. “I can’t really speak for Todd, but myself, I was just amazed at what racing and NASCAR was about when I was younger.
“I got to see a lot of ins-and-outs of the sport just being around my dad. The people that are involved in putting their hands on the race car before it gets on the race track. You have a huge appreciation for that, and I’m sure Todd was the same way.”
Even though both men grew up around the race tracks, there was never a rivalry between their families. Gilliland also said that due to his and Blaney’s seven-year age difference he never competed against him on the short tracks when they were developing their careers.
“He was probably leaving Quarter Midgets and Late Models and all those things as I was getting into it,” Gilliland said.
Even though Blaney and Gilliland never competed against each other in their teenage years, they’re now both in the Ford camp. That means participating in the manufacturer’s team building activities together and the event held at Pursell Farms, an outdoor leisure resort just outside Birmingham, Alabama, produced their favorite story of one another.
“There’s probably six of us on a golf cart,” Gilliland recounted. “It’s pitch black, we can’t see anything and we hit a ditch. None of us could see it and Blaney flew off the back and we’re like, ‘Oh, no. We just killed Ryan Blaney.’ But luckily everyone survived.
“I don’t know if the Ford guys were very happy with us after that, but we were like, ‘We won’t get in trouble because Ryan is with us.’ He was the champion at that point.”
Blaney admitted those involved in the excursion had indulged in “some liquid courage builders.”
“I was messing with Todd that whole night,” Blaney said with a grin. “We were driving through the woods on this golf cart, and I kept telling him that there were people in the trees and someone is coming to get us. I was freaking him out.
“I got to learn a lot about Todd and he’s a good guy. My dad and David raced together for a long time, so there are some good memories there.”
Due to Blaney being a NASCAR champion, owning 19 career Cup victories and driving for Team Penske, and Gilliland still winless in the Cup series and driving for Front Row Motorsports, the matchup is viewed by many as David vs. Goliath. Blaney quipped that if that was the case, he could be in trouble because David won that duel.
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the $1 million recipient will be determined, Blaney owns the better record, but Gilliland isn’t far behind. Excluding 2021-2023 when the races were held on Indy’s road course, Blaney has three top-10 finishes in the last four years on the 2.5-mile oval—two sevenths and a third. In the two years that Gilliland has competed in the Brickyard 400, he’s finished sixth both times.
“I don’t think there’s a rivalry there that has stemmed down like a Hatfield-McCoy situation,” Blaney said. “It’s just two kids trying to win their teams a bunch of money.”
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