Good morning (or afternoon), NASCAR fans and welcome to Day Nine of my 35-day preview up to the 2009 season.
Today’s preview involves David Gilliland, a young driver still looking for his first Sprint Cup win in his third full season.
Gilliland jumped into the spotlight after he won a Nationwide Race (then Busch Series) in the No. 84 Clay Andrews Chevrolet at Kentucky Speedway in 2006.
The win was called “the biggest upset in Busch Series history,” by race announcer Hermie Sadler.
Gilliland became the first team to win that year that was no in a Cup-affiliated car.
The win caught the attention of Robert Yates, who quickly brought Gilliland up to the Cup Series, for his debut at Infineon Speedway in 2006.
He later replaced Elliot Sadler full-time.
Today’s Spotlight: No. 38
Team: Team Yates Racing
Driver: David Gilliland
Sponsor: FreeCreditReport.com (20 races), Citi Financial (4 races), Digital Transition (3 races), Dish Network Turbo HD. For a look at paint schemes visit Jayski.com.
Driver 2008 Stats: Gilliland earned more than $3.6 million in 2008. He finished the season with two top-10 finishes and one top-five. Gilliland finished the season 27th in the championship standings with an average finish of 26th.
News: Gilliland will be without crew chief Cully Barraclough, who left the team to become the car chief for the No. 26 team of Roush Racing.
The team appears to have sponsorship for most of the 2009 season, with at least 28 races covered (depending on how many Dish Network run).
Sponsorship has been a problem for the Yates cars, who now look to add a third full-time team in the No. 98 Paul Menard.
4 comments Last one added 5 months ago — Leave a Comment
S M Napier 5 months ago
He's in a make it or break it season, since at times he's shown with his driving at times he could be over his head and know most fans think he needs to go back to the local short track.
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Ben Bomberger 5 months ago
Definitely a make it or break it type of season for Gilliland... He needs to go out and prove to everyone that it wasn't just a FLUKE when he won back in Kentucky...
So far he's proven nothing but that he got lucky and the cards fell his way that night.
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James Broomhead 5 months ago
He had a pretty good season last year - his result at Sonoma stands out showing that he can (in fact) drive a car.
However, just as I was heaping praise on him in various scribblings he pulled the move to take JPM out late in the season, which pretty much erased all respect for him.
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Ben Bomberger 5 months ago
Exactly... I think he just needs to calm down some times and let things settle out. He gets a little antsy and pushes too hard.
There's no doubt... he's a decent driver.
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