David Gilliland is a great driver who is just searching for the right team and sponsor to align himself with. After spending much of last season unsponsored, Gilliland proved to many of the NASCAR faithful that with or without a primary sponsor, he would stop at nothing to get a good finish for his team. In a time when many of the underfunded teams are struggling to survive, Gilliland has taken TRG Motorsports, a new team in the Cup Series ranks, to many really respectable finishes. He has qualified for all but one of the races in which he has driven the #71 Chevrolet. Gilliland knows how to put his foot to the floor and drive to victory lane. He has done this many times in the West Coast series of NASCAR. Does anyone remember that Gilliland took the win in the Kentucky Nationwide race in a car that had little funding back in 2006? David Gilliland is still relatively new to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and if a team with a solid sponsor would sign him, he would consistently be able to run up front every week.
Yes, Gilliland did get a job driving the #38 Robert Yates Racing/Yates Racing Ford when the team was sponsored by Mars, Inc. Let’s be honest, however. Yates had a hard time remaining competitive once both Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett left in 2006. The team struggled to find its footing and at the end of the 2007 season, Mars Inc. left the team and headed to Joe Gibbs Racing. Usually when a driver loses his major sponsor at the end of the season, they get really upset. Not David Gilliland. He just kept doing his job and thanking every sponsor, large or small, that would come aboard his #38 in 2008. David had a very successful season in 2008 considering that there was not a lot of sponsorship money coming in.
At the beginning of the 2009 season, Yates Racing released David so that he could have an opportunity to find a full-time ride in the Cup Series. It didn’t take him long to sign with TRG Motorsports as driver of the #71. The team and driver made their debut together in the second race of the year at California. When TRG Motorsports announced a few weeks ago that they had signed Bobby Labonte to compete in seven races in the #71, replacing David Gilliland, it got the gears in my head turning. After being upset for a few days, an idea came to me.
Kevin Buckler, owner of TRG Motorsports, has said that he would like to see the team expand and be able to field a two-car team in 2010. As a former champion, Bobby Labonte is guaranteed to make the race so if the team puts him in the #70 that would lock him into the field and give the #70 team a few point should they end of fielding two cars next season. If they continue to field the #71 for Gilliland, Gilliland would make the race on points should qualifying be rained out by virtue of the #71 being 37th in points and having made all of the races this season. So I guess what I am saying is it is good that the team picked Bobby Labonte to pilot the car in those seven races, however, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have to get rid of David as their full-time driver.
I can’t wait to see what David can do in his three races with Joe Gibbs Racing in their fourth car. This team has solid sponsorship in Farm Bureau Insurance. This opportunity may be just what David Gilliland needs to really turn some heads. If David got the right opportunity, without having to worry sponsorship every week, I know he could run up front and win races. If he is given enough time to gel with his team, I believe he can contend for championships in the future. What are your opinions on this story?
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