David Gilliland’s son Todd, 15, wins ARCA debut at Toledo

By May 17, 2015, 6:47 PM EDT
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Two days after turning 15, Todd Gilliland celebrated in spectacular fashion Sunday at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway.

In his first career start in the series, Gilliland became the youngest winner in ARCA Racing Series history, taking the checkered flag in the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care.

The entire Gilliland family, including father and NASCAR driver David, were on hand to watch Todd – a third-generation race car driver – race his way to victory and celebrate his triumph.

Adding to the significance of the younger Gilliland’s win is that it came just four weeks after his first career Late Model victory on the CARS Tour.

Driving the No. 55 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, Gilliland held off Tom Hessert and Josh Williams for the win in the 30-car field. Other notable finishers included Bobby Hamilton Jr., who finished eighth, and veteran driver Ken Schrader, who finished 13th.

Also making his first career start in the ARCA Series was Matt Wallace, son of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace, driving the No. 69 Kimmel Racing Ford.

Matt Wallace finished 10th in his debut.

The younger Wallace’s sister, Chrissie, also made her ARCA debut at Toledo Speedway. Matt is also the nephew for NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace.

Courtesy of Matt Weaver of PopularSpeed.com, here are a number of tweets and videos that captured Todd Gilliland’s historic victory:

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IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”