Todd Gilliland 1-on-1: On his racing roots, progress he's made in 2024

Todd Gilliland should be smiling — he's sitting 20th in the standings and recently signed a contract extension with Front Row Motorsports.

The 24-year-old Gilliland is considered one of NASCAR's top prospects after winning back-to-back ARCA West titles in 2016-17 and finishing second in the ARCA East standings in 2017, but it hasn't been an easy road for him.

He won just two truck races and finished no higher than 10th in the standings driving for powerful Kyle Busch Motorsports from 2019-2021. Left without a ride at age 20, Gilliland landed with Front Row Motorsports to drive a truck in 2021, winning one race and finishing seventh in the standings. Front Row elevated him to Cup, where in the past three seasons he has one top-5 and eight top-10 finishes.

But he has progressed, with an average finish of 23.2 as a rookie, 22.0 last year (where he also ran a handful of races for Rick Ware Racing as FRM replaced him for select events) and now 20.1.

After two seasons of finishing 28th in the standings, to currently sit 20th is a jump not often seen.

The third-generation racer is the son of David Gilliland, who owns a five-car truck team, Tricon Garage, that has Corey Heim with a series-high four wins this year.

FOX Sports caught up with Gilliland for a couple of questions after his contract extension announcement and then for an extended conversation last week prior to the race at Iowa to talk about going from a star prospect to finding his footing in the Cup Series.

What's it like to know you went from a guy who didn't have a full season in one car last year to a guy who is now set for a couple more years?

From my side of it, I need to be reminded of that, for sure. It's definitely a huge blessing and a huge opportunity to