Busch win opening doors for Gilliland
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
The attention keeps coming for David Gilliland after his upset victory in the Meijer 300 Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Gilliland said Tuesday during a national teleconference that several Nextel Cup car owners have called him. And while no sponsors have signed with the Clay Andrews Racing team, Gilliland said Chevrolet will step up its involvement with the team.
"They're going to help our team a little bit more, possibly give us some opportunities to go to the wind tunnel. " said Gilliland, who added that Chevrolet told him it was the manufacturer's 300th victory in the Busch Series. "We're real excited about doing that. We think we will be able to make our program better with it."
The car that Gilliland won with was bought from Michael Waltrip Racing, and Andrews' fledgling team hadn't taken it to the wind tunnel.
Gilliland's phone has been busy this week, too, including calls from Cup owners.
"I've gotten some pretty good phone calls," said Gilliland, whose Nextel Cup qualifying effort for this weekend's Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in the CMJ Racing Dodge was planned about six weeks ago.
"Pretty neat. You race your whole life for an opportunity to try and succeed in NASCAR racing, and to see it all coming true before your eyes is a pretty amazing sight."
Clay Andrews Racing has no plans to add more races to Gilliland's part-time schedule, but Gilliland said the team could if sponsorship is found. With all the attention the victory has gotten, that could happen.
"It has gotten a lot of attention, and hopefully we can secure something to go on the side of our race car so we won't have to run it bare any more," Gilliland said. "It's been a pretty big deal. Bigger than I ever imagined."
