„David Gilliland“ – Versionsunterschied

Vorlage:Infobox NASCAR driver David Gilliland (born on April 1, 1976 in Riverside, California) is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #38 M&M's Ford for Robert Yates in Nextel Cup Series and the #25 FreeCreditReport.com in the Busch Series for Team Rensi. He is the son of former Cup and West Coast driver Butch Gilliland. He is mentored by former Nextel Cup race winner Jerry Nadeau.

NASCAR Regional Career

In 1996, he began working on his father's AutoZone West Series team. By 1999, Gilliland won the track championship at Perris Auto Speedway (a dirt track). Then, the following year he began a limited season in the NASCAR AutoZone West Series.

In 2003, Gilliland won five races in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series in the #11 Centrifugal Technologies Ford. He finished the season with five top-fives and eight top-tens and a 6th place finish in points.

In 2004, Gilliland announced plans to run the full schedule in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series in the No. 88 Chevrolet for MRG Motorsports and all non-conflicting NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series (now AutoZone West) races. He won his first AutoZone West win at Mesa Marin Raceway, in his home city. He was then NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series Rookie-of-the-Year. He also had two victories in NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series.

NASCAR National Career

Gilliland made his first attempt at a major NASCAR race in 2003, at the Las Vegas 350 in the Craftsman Truck Series, but failed to qualify. He announced that Clay Andrews Racing would form in mid-2005. Gilliland made his Busch Series debut at Phoenix, qualifying 28th. However, he was involved with an early crash and finished 43rd. Gilliland made the other Phoenix race later in the year, but had the same result. He was 43rd after ignition troubles. Also, he ran the #15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy at Vegas in the Craftsman Truck Series with a 22nd place finish.

Meanwhile, Gilliland raced in the Grand National Division in 2005 and won the Toyota All-Star Showdown in 2005 when apparent winner Mike Olson was disqualified for light wheels wider than regulation. The win was his biggest of date because it allowed him to be noticed by Busch and Cup owners.

Gilliland began running the #84 Clay Andrews Chevy part-time in 2006, where he drew praise from many veterans, including announcer Darrell Waltrip. Gilliland, however, struggled to finish races, only earning a best of 29th in his first four starts of the year. However, in his next outing, Gilliland scored his first career Busch Series win at Kentucky on June 17. Gilliland drove the 84 Hype Manufacturing Chevrolet to victory, becoming the first driver of 2006 to win a Busch race who was not also running a full-time Nextel Cup schedule. FX television announcer Hermie Sadler called the victory "the biggest upset in Busch Series history". It was also big, because Gilliland made up ground late in the race, recovering from a series of bad pit stops to take the lead in dramatic fashion.

Nextel Cup Series

Gilliland made his first attempt to make a Cup race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA, in the #72 CJM Racing Chevrolet. He qualified for the team's first race, qualifying 31st, and finishing 32nd.

Gilliland will drive part-time in the Busch Series for Team Rensi Motorsports with sponsorship from FreeCreditReport.com. He will split the driving duties at Rensi with rookie Richard Johns.

2006 Season

After a mid-season driver change at Robert Yates Racing, Gilliland took the wheel of the M&M’S® #38 Ford beginning at Michigan International Speedway on August 18. Joining a championship-winning organization, Gilliland was teamed up with one of NASCAR’s most successful crew chiefs, Todd Parrott for the final 14 races of the season. Gilliland replaced Elliott Sadler as the driver of the M&M's Ford in the NEXTEL Cup Series. On October 7, he qualified on the pole for the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the first pole of his career. He has signed to drive for Yates through 2008. The veteran crew chief led his rookie driver to top-15 finishes at Talladega and Atlanta.

These Stats Are As Of 7/16/07

Age	Wins	Top 5's	Top 10's	Starts	Poles	Laps Lead	Laps Completed	Total Laps	Rank
30	0	0	0	15/36	1	1	4271	-	42

2007 Season

This season Gilliland returns as the driver of the M&M’S Ford for his first full season of competition in the NEXTEL Cup Series. In his first outing in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway on February 10, 2007; Gilliland brought his M&M's Ford Fusion home in the runner-up position behind Tony Stewart.

He won his second career pole at the Daytona 500, his first points-paying race at the track. He is currently twenty-seventh in NEXTEL Cup points.

Date	Race	Start Pos.	Finish Pos.	Date	Race	Start Pos.	Finish Pos.
Feb. 10	Bud Shootout	13	2	Feb. 15	Gatorade Duel 1*	1	4
Feb. 18	Daytona 500	1	8	Feb. 25	Auto-Club 500	40	25

These Stats Are As Of 7/29/07

Age	Wins	Top 5's	Top 10's	Starts	Poles	Laps Lead	Laps Completed	Total Laps	Rank
31	0	1	2	20/20	1	18	4984	5889	27

Trivia

• David Gilliland was a high-school golf teammate of Tiger Woods
• Gilliland was one of two non-Buschwackers to win a Busch Series race in 2006.

External links

• Official Myspace
• Gilliland's Website
• Gilliland's NASCAR stats
• Official Message Board