![]() ![]() “I have to be a good teammate, right? Like there’s a lot to be said about that in this industry and I’m sure that’ll go a long way. “That’s gonna be tough, but I don’t know, I think you have to push him,” Gilliland said. Should both Gilliland and Smith end up in the same duel, how does Gilliland convince himself to help push Smith into the Daytona 500?įor Gilliland, being a good teammate still reigns supreme no matter the circumstances. There also comes a curious balance in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. But, you know, at times, you just have to separate the life aspect of it and work. I’ve even ran into (good friend) Harrison Burton, and you’re bound to have stuff happen, whether it’s on the race track, stuff like this. It’s hard to be friends with people that you’re competing against every single week. It’s something that I mean, Marissa, my new wife, talked about. “But I’m sure we’re still gonna be friends. “I haven’t spoke to him since actually came out,” Gilliland said. ![]() Smith was still part of Gilliland’s wedding in January after the two were made aware of the team’s 2023 plans. The North Carolina native is also still friends with Smith, who despite booting Gilliland from the ride remains a teammate at Front Row. Gilliland said Thursday “it seems like we’re getting close on some stuff” to fill his current Cup Series gaps. That also extends to the lower-tiered series, preventing him from competing for TRICON, a Toyota team, in the Truck Series. Gilliland is free to explore other opportunities to round out the six races he’s slated to miss, but he can only compete in a Ford per his contract, Gilliland said. “It was just, expectation was running full-time, and then it was just, this is kind of what we have and what we’re gonna have to do. “Really, there wasn’t much talk about it at all, that’s the tough part,” Gilliland said. 38 Ford for another opportunity to learn and improve in 2023. Still, Gilliland, the son of former racer and current TRICON Garage owner David Gilliland, expected to be back behind the wheel of the No. The stats don’t lie: The North Carolina native struggled in comparison to veteran teammate Michael McDowell, who netted a career-best 12 top 10s and 16.7 average finish in 2022, bettering Gilliland’s 23.2 average finish by over six positions. In his rookie season, Gilliland earned a best finish of fourth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in addition to his second career top 10 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he finished seventh in October. Smith enters as the defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and impressed in his Cup debut at Worldwide Technology Raceway in the No, 17 RFK Racing Ford with a 17th-place finish. The immediate next steps were figuring out what races Gilliland would miss for Smith to pilot the car. “I think the hardest thing was just kind of expecting to be full-time and then just kind of felt like it came out of nowhere.” This was a couple months ago,” Gilliland told reporters in a Thursday media conference. The Royal Purple 300 takes place on Saturday 26th March.“They didn’t just tell me. All of us at Oakley look forward to many great years to come with him and his team.” Todd Hayes, Oakley’s sports marketing manager for motorsports, said: “Oakley is stoked about having worked with Rusty for so long and how the relationship has developed over the years, both with Rusty and the RWR team. This year, Steve Wallace will pilot the team’s #66 5-Hour Energy Toyota with Michael Annett in the #62 Oakley machine. This year’s race is the second time that an RWR entrant has sported the California-based company’s colours at the Auto Club, Wallace’s son Steve previously piloted the Oakley-branded #66 car in 2008. From their glasses to their new firesuits and everything in between, they make some really incredible stuff.” We’ve definitely had a lot of fun together and Oakley is still one of the coolest and most high-performance brands on the planet. ![]() Wallace said: “It’s really hard to believe that 21 years have gone by since we first got together with the guys from Oakley. ![]() Sports and lifestyle brand Oakley’s relationship with team owner Rusty Wallace is one of the longest-running deal is Nascar, dating back the start of the 1990 season when Wallace was the reigning Sprint Cup series champion. Typically, primary sponsorships of teams in the Nascar Nationwide Series range from US$150,000 to US$250,000, with this deal believed to be worth the latter amount. Oakley will serve as the Nascar Nationwide Series team’s primary outfitter, supplying them with sunglasses, firesuits, footwear and uniforms to RWR’s #62 and #66 teams. Rusty Wallace Racing (RWR) has announced that Oakley will be the primary sponsor of the #62 Toyota Camry for the Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. ![]()
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