Chris Lawson says chance to win $1 million at Indy will influence strategy for Todd Gilliland, No. 34 team

Todd Gilliland and the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team have the opportunity to win $1 million in Sunday's Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by finishing better than Ryan Blaney. 

Doing so would give Gilliland the win in NASCAR's In-Season Challenge, and his crew chief, Chris Lawson, says winning the prize will be top of mind for the No. 34 group this weekend. 

Chris Lawson: In-Season Challenge will dictate decisions

"I'll be honest, all the way until now we kind of just...not really paid attention to it," Lawson said Thursday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. "We were going to go to the racetrack and do everything we can to run as well and finish as well as we could. It didn't really play a role in any decision-making. 

"I'm going to be honest, on Sunday, it'll probably play a role in the decisions and could potentially change the outcome of what we do. It'll definitely be there."

Lawson said he and Gilliland will be closely monitoring where Blaney is running throughout the day. 

"It's one of those things [where if] you don't feel like you can straight up beat 'em, then you got to get off-sequence or off-cycle to them and do the opposite and hope it work out in your favor," Lawson said.

Gilliland has finished sixth in the last two Brickyard 400s and will be vying for his first career Cup win on Sunday as well as the In-Season Challenge title.