David Gilliland harbors no ill will toward Yates, ready for next adventure
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FONTANA, Calif. – David Gilliland admits he’s a little nervous, a little frustrated and a little excited about his upcoming four races with TRG Motorsports.
Gilliland, who has driven 86 of his 87 career Cup races under the Yates banner, has the next four events to prove his worth and try to get the team into the top 35. If it does, team owner Kevin Buckler said he would try to continue racing in Cup this season.
The organization has two cars it bought from Richard Childress Racing, is using Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies engines and has hired Richard “Slugger” Labbe as Gilliland’s crew chief.
“It’s really, really weird being here and not being in a Yates car, but that’s the way it worked out,” said Gilliland after practice Friday at Auto Club Speedway. “This car drove really well [in practice]. I was pleasantly surprised
“I think the guys did a great job in getting the car prepared and have a fighting chance, and that’s all you can ask for. I feel pretty good with it.”
The 32-year-old Gilliland said he doesn’t feel this is a make-or-break situation for his career. He has two career top-five finishes.
“A lot of guys on our team have a lot of good experience but they’re out of jobs because of all the layoffs that happened, so they’re kind of auditioning for a job,” Gilliland said. “Slugger doesn’t have anything full time and wants to be back in here. I want to be back in here. … We all have a lot on the line right now, and that’s what I like about the deal.”
Gilliland said he has no ill will toward Yates Racing, where he finished 27th in points last year but was left without a ride as the team found sponsorship for Paul Menard and Bobby Labonte - but not for him. The team is running a partial schedule for Travis Kvapil but had nothing for Gilliland this year.
“They’ve been so good to me – they brought me into the Cup series, gave me my first opportunity here and really stood behind us last year when we weren’t fully funded and did run us all year,” Gilliland said. “They stuck their neck out on the line for Travis and myself when we weren’t fully funded.”
One of the reasons Gilliland got the ride was because he had a lot of experience in NASCAR’s new car.
“Of all the drivers that were available out there that were fast qualifiers and had COT experience, David was No. 1 on the list,” said Buckler, whose team failed to make the Daytona 500 with Mike Wallace. “He fits our model real well – a nice, young, hard-working clean-cut guy who is hard working, just like we are.”
TRG Motorsports had one win in the Truck series last year and has a long pedigree in sports-car racing, including a victory in its class in the Rolex 24 At Daytona this past year.
“We decided to take a run and come to the Truck series, which is brutally competitive,” said Buckler, whose team was 22nd in owner points last year in the Trucks. “Instead of embarrassing ourselves, we ended up having a great season. We needed to come down here and learn the lay of the land. I think we learned enough to at least try to come here and run.”
NASCAR’s moratorium on testing has helped the team, Gilliland said.
“I haven’t been in a race car since the middle of November at Homestead,” Gilliland said. “We had good speed right off the bat. It helps coming to a track I’ve ran at more than a handful of times.
“It really would have hurt us if everybody had come tested and we didn’t. That definitely has played into our favor a little bit.”
