Todd Gilliland ready for sophomore season despite ‘shock’ of splitting ride

On Tuesday, Front Row Motorsports announced Zane Smith will drive the unchartered No. 36 Ford in the Daytona 500 before driving the No. 38 Ford in six additional NASCAR Cup Series races this season. While the news is great for Smith, Todd Gilliland — who drove the No. 38 entry full-time in his 2022 rookie campaign — was left blindsided by the organization's decision. MORE: Full details on Smith's promotion | 2023 Cup schedule The 22-year-old entered the offseason expecting to return with another full schedule ahead in 2023. Instead, Gilliland is set to be sidelined at Phoenix Raceway (March), Talladega Superspeedway (April), Charlotte Motor Speedway (May), Sonoma Raceway (June), Texas Motor Speedway (September) and the Charlotte Roval (October) in favor of Smith. "They didn't just tell me. This was a couple months ago," Gilliland told reporters in a Thursday media conference. "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." The immediate next steps were figuring out what races Gilliland would miss for Smith to pilot the car. 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. 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. 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. Still, Gilliland, the son of former racer and current TRICON Garage owner David Gilliland, expected to be back behind the wheel of the No. 38 Ford for another opportunity to learn and improve in 2023. "Really, there wasn't much talk about it at all, that's the tough part," Gilliland said. "It was just, [the] 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. So I guess that was a shock." RELATED: Preview Front Row's 2023 season  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. That also extends to the lower-tiered series, preventing him from competing for TRICON, a Toyota team, in the Truck Series. Gilliland said Thursday "it seems like we're getting close on some stuff" to fill his current Cup Series gaps. The North Carolina native is also still friends with Smith, who despite booting Gilliland from the ride remains a teammate at Front Row. Smith was still part of Gilliland's wedding in January after the two were made aware of the team's 2023 plans. "I haven't spoke to him since [the news] actually came out," Gilliland said. "But I'm sure we're still gonna be friends. It's a tough business. It's something that I mean, Marissa, my new wife, talked about. It's hard to be friends with people that you're competing against every single week. 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 is tough. But, you know, at times, you just have to separate the life aspect of it and work. But like I said, it is tough." There also comes a curious balance in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races on Thursday, Feb. 16 (7 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM). Should both Gilliland and Smith end up in the same duel, how does Gilliland convince himself to help push Smith into the Daytona 500? For Gilliland, being a good teammate still reigns supreme no matter the circumstances. "That's gonna be tough, but I don't know, I think you have to push him," Gilliland said. "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. So that's still my plan, be a good teammate, be as helpful as I can to help the whole organization. "They've still done so much for me, still doing so much for me this year. And, you know, this still isn't just a breakup for the future, either. You know, there's still nothing said that we can't continue this in the future. So I think my best bet is still to be a good teammate, a good part of this organization." The NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off with the 65th annual Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 19 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).