"My heart was pounding" as Todd Gilliland earns $1 million in huge NASCAR upset

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The five-week In-Season Bracket Challenge has come to an end as part of TNT’s summer broadcast window. The victor earns a trophy and a $1 million prize, and the last man standing is one few would have ever expected.

Todd Gilliland, the No. 25 seed in the 32-driver competition, has managed to pull off an underdog victory for the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. He defeated Ryan Blaney head-to-head at Indianapolis, finishing 24th, just six tenths up the road as Blaney finished 26th.

Blaney was driving a wounded Penske Ford as he suffered damage in a late-race incident, opening the door for Gilliland to win the prize. Gilliland narrowly avoided the same incident by squeezing through on the inside.

Several drivers congratulated Gilliland after the race as though he had taken the checkered flag, including Blaney himself.

“It was a tough day for us, to be honest with you, the team as a whole,” said Gilliland as he accepted his prize. “Yeah, I thought that was kind of our whole MO through this whole thing, we were barely scraping by, even today, right? It took a bit of bad luck clearly from the 12 (Blaney).

“My heart was pounding those last 25 laps. It was me, the 16 and the 12. Yeah, still seemed like one slip-up and I was going to be right in front of the 12 or right behind him even coming down to the very end.

“I still feel like we kind of earned it coming down the stretch. I think I kind of talked about it before, but the biggest thing for me that was really cool through this whole process was seeing how my team really elevated themselves, really grabbed another gear. They worked super, super hard, long hours for this week, just really ramped up throughout this whole in-season challenge. I think it’s cool. They unlocked another level within themselves.”

Gilliland had a front row seat to Blaney’s incident, and the car directly behind him actually got turned in the ensuing check-up.

“I was nose to tail with five other cars in front of me,” recalled Gilliland. “I just see a little bit of yellow out of the right side of my eye. I was like, man, even if he just spins here, he’s going to be back in the pack. Obviously it’s pretty tough to pass once you get settled in. Then he hit the nose. I was like, All right, maybe that will slow him down a little bit. Maybe it did a little bit, but he was just as fast as us.

“It’s one of those things where you never cheer against someone. After it’s over with, you’re like, All right, that definitely helped us out. Now we definitely need to take advantage of it.”

The prize money is paid to the team, leaving Gilliland unsure how much he will personally receive, but he “definitely believes it’s going to be the biggest payday of my life so far.”

Gilliland began the competition by defeating Daniel Suarez at Sonoma, then Carson Hocevar at Chicagoland, Alex Bowman at Atlanta, Chase Elliott at North Wilkesboro, and finally Blaney at Indianapolis. All are Cup Series race winners, and the final two are Cup champions, but none of them managed to stop ‘Gilly from getting that Milly’ in his unlikely charge for the $1 million prize.

Watch: Blaney disappointed in losing In-Season Challenge: ‘Not a fun day’