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Gilliland makes up for late start

June 23, 2006 1:31 am

By JIM McCONNELL

After watching David Gilliland win the Busch Series race last Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, Carl Edwards called it "the story of the year."

Edwards should know. Not too long ago, he was Gilliland--a no-name driver desperate for an opportunity, just one chance to prove himself in the hyper-competitive world of NASCAR.

Edwards' big break came when Jack Roush plucked him out of obscurity and promoted him from the Craftsman Truck Series to Nextel Cup.

Now Gilliland wants to follow Edwards' lead, attempting to qualify for his first Nextel Cup race less than a week after the upset victory that finally placed his name and face squarely on the NASCAR map.

"We've worked our whole lives for an opportunity like this," Gilliland said Tuesday during the weekly NASCAR teleconference. "It's been a dream come true."

Prior to last weekend, Gilliland's most noteworthy athletic achievement may have been playing on the golf team with Tiger Woods at Western High School in Anaheim, Calif.

Sure, Gilliland was voted crew chief of the year in 1997 when his father, Butch, won the championship in NASCAR's Winston West Series. He took up driving in the late 90s and became a big wheel in minor-league series across California, winning more than 70 races and a prestigious event known as the Toyota All-Star Showdown.

But let's be honest. The Winston West isn't Nextel Cup. It's not even in the same area code as the Busch or Craftsman Truck Series.

So when Gilliland couldn't do better than 29th in his first four 2006 Busch starts, then failed to qualify for the Busch race last month at Lowe's Motor Speedway, even he began to wonder if he really belonged in the same company as NASCAR's big boys.

"It was about as low as I've ever felt in my life," he told The Associated Press earlier this week.

The lowest of lows, followed by the highest of highs.

As he motored toward Victory Lane Saturday night, Gilliland was greeted by crew members from competing teams who had lined up to offer congratulations. He fielded way-to-go phone calls from Nextel Cup regulars Robby Gordon and Kyle Busch on Sunday, and received numerous inquiries from NASCAR team owners he coyly refused to name.

"He's the best-kept secret in NASCAR right now," said crew chief Billy Wilburn, whose Nextel Cup resume includes stints with Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett.

Wilburn's experience helps. So does Jerry Nadeau, who signed on as Gilliland's driving coach as he continues to recover from a near-fatal crash in his Cup car.

And Gilliland is hardly a stranger at this week's Nextel Cup venue, the road course at Sonoma, Calif. He won a NASCAR Southwest Series race at Infineon Raceway in 2004 and guided his father to victory there seven years earlier.

But Gilliland still faces a steep uphill battle to make more than just a fleeting impression on NASCAR's top touring series.

For one, he's 30 years old--ancient in an era when teams are fighting each other to sign the latest fuzzy-faced teenager. His Busch team, which has no outside sponsorship and is funded entirely by owner Clay Andrews, has only three cars and enough cash to make just 20 of the 35 races this season.

His Cup ride is with an even more upstart operation. CJM Racing, owned by brothers Tony and Bryan Mullet, has yet to qualify for a race in 2006.

But if last Saturday's race proved anything, it's that Gilliland isn't afraid to get out on the track and mix it up with NASCAR's best drivers. He became the first non-Cup driver to win a Busch race in the last 18 events dating back to last season, and welcomes the chance to test himself again this weekend.

"What I like about racing against the Nextel Cup guys in the Busch Series is that it pushes you to learn more and it's made me a better driver," Gilliland said. "That's why I race, to be the best driver I can be. So racing against them guys and learning every week we race, that's what it's all about."

To reach JIM McCONNELL: 540/374-5444
Email: jmcconnell@freelancestar.com