David Gilliland went to the same school as Tiger Woods. In fact, he was on the Golf team next to Woods when he was still a cub. However, that is not how David is known to his fans. David is an incredible race driver who has already spent a fruitful season at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and is looking forward to a better performance.
David’s ride to fame has been rather rocky. He began his career in the NASCAR Camping World Series, West. In fact, he didn’t race initially, but was crew chief to his father, Butch’s team. In 1997, the team won the title and David began competing in a select few events from 1997 to 2002. David continued racing, through these years, at the Super Late Model Division series at various short tracks across Southern California.
| Born | 1 Apr 1976 |
| Nationality |
United States
|
In 2003, David got into the NASCAR Southwest Series and raked in five race wins. He got promoted to full time racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series, West from 2004 to 2005 and won the ‘04 Rookie of the Year honours with two wins. David also won the Grand National Division segment of the 2005 NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown and went on to the NASCAR Nationwide Series to make his debut in the same year.
His debut was at an upstart, un-sponsored team and his schedule for 2006 was rather limited. But in his seventh start ever, he scored a wonderful and ‘upset’ victory, which got him his NASCAR Sprint Cup series debut in 2006 itself. With a team owned by Bryan Mullet, he made his debut at the Infineon in August before shifting to Robert Yates Racing. He got his first pole position although could just manage a 15th place finish.
In 2007, David got his first chance at a full season and started off with pole position at the Daytona500. On the restrictor-plate tracks, he finished in the top 15 places in 3 of the 4 races. In the Sprint Cup, his fourth place at Talladega was a career best result and was the only notable result in a 28th place finish.
In 2008, David will continue his learning days and will look at some strong and stable performances. His main goal at the moment would be to consistently finish amongst the top ranks to gain more track time and experience. A driver with immense potential but little experience, David is definitely one to watch out for.
