Meet Nextel Cup Driver - Raybestos
Meet Nextel Cup Driver
Raybestos® brand brakes is an associate Sponsor for David Gilliland and the M&Ms Ford owned by Robert Yates.
Sunny, southern California, known for its beautiful beaches and big movie stars, is a long way from the southern shorts tracks where NASCAR is king. But over the past decade a steady stream of hopeful drivers have traveled from the Golden State to chase their dreams of becoming a stock car driver in NASCAR's top series. The latest name on the list is that of Torrance native David Gilliland who after a quiet West Coast career made a big entrance into the world of NASCAR.
Following in the footsteps of a racing family, Gilliland spent the majority of his youth working on the race cars driven by his father Butch. Working his way through the ranks on his father's team, Gilliland moved from mechanic to crew chief on the #38 NASCAR Winston West team at the young age of 19. Just a year later, he was awarded the Champion Crew Chief of the Year award for the series when his dad clinched the 1997 Winston West Championship.
Gilliland's talent underneath the hood paved the way to his climbing behind the wheel the following season as he split time between his crew chief duties and the driver's seat. In seven starts at the Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway, Gilliland took home two checkered flags in the stock car division. The following season Gilliland became a regular at Perris Auto Speedway winning 14 out of 15 heat races and nine out of 15 main events in the stock car division.
In 2000, Gilliland built his own late model team competing at Irwindale on a full-time basis. His efforts proved rewarding as he landed in victory lane twice that season before making the jump the following year to the to the NASCAR Southwest Tour, where he won his first regional touring race in only his fourth start. Staying in the Southwest Tour the following season Gilliland posted five victories and finished top-10 in the championship point standings.
Now a regular on the West Coast stock car circuit, Gilliland found himself behind the wheel of a NASCAR Grand National West Series machine in 2004. Just as he had before, Gilliland made quick work of the learning curve in a new series and reached victory lane in only his second Grand National West Series start. The California native captured the Rookie of Year honors for the Grand National Series while also competing in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series.
In 2005, Gilliland again competed in the West Series scoring another win along with numerous top-five and top-ten finishes. During this same season, he also won the Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Even with all his success on the West Coast, Gilliland could not keep his focus from wandering east to North Carolina. At the start of 2006, Gilliland moved his family 3000 away from their home state to Charlotte to take a chance on finding a ride in one of NASCAR's top-three series. Gilliland's break came after he teamed up with fellow California native Clay Andrews to run a partial schedule in the NASCAR Busch Series.
Competing without sponsorship, Gilliland was against the odds racing alongside NASCAR's powerhouse teams. But on June 17, 2006 everything changed for the kid from California. In only his seventh career Busch Series start, Gilliland won under the lights at the Kentucky Speedway beating out several of the NEXTEL Cup Series drivers to become the first Busch Series regular to post a win during the season.
The win opened the door for the opportunity Gilliland had hoped for when he moved his family just six months earlier - a chance to compete in NASCAR's NEXTEL Cup Series. After a mid-season driver change, Gilliland took the wheel of the M&M'S #38 Ford for Robert Yates Racing beginning at Michigan International Speedway. Joining a championship-winning organization, Gilliland has been teamed up with one of NASCAR's most successful crew chiefs, Todd Parrott.
Gilliland will compete in the remaining races on the 2006 series schedule before taking the green flag for his first full NASCAR season in 2007.
