A Cup career built on a 2007 Daytona 500 pole, a career-best second at Sonoma and a later move into team ownership with Tricon Garage.
Gilliland is a semi-retired American driver and team owner whose best Cup finish was second at Sonoma Raceway in 2008. He runs Tricon Garage, which enters Truck Series and ARCA events.
David Gilliland is a semi-retired American driver who spent about a decade as a full-time Cup competitor before moving into team ownership. He claimed a Daytona 500 pole in 2007, and his later years have revolved around Tricon Garage.
How did Gilliland start in stock car racing?
Gilliland was born in Riverside, California, on April 1, 1976, and is the son of NASCAR driver Butch Gilliland. Starting in 1996 he was involved with his father's Winston West operation, and by 1999 he had taken the track title at Perris Auto Speedway, a dirt oval.
A limited AutoZone West Series programme followed the year after. In 2003 he won five races in the Southwest Series, finishing with five top-fives, eight top-tens and sixth in the points standings.
He moved to a full Southwest schedule in 2004 with MRG Motorsports, claiming his first West Series win at Mesa Marin Raceway. That season also brought two Southwest victories and the West Series Rookie of the Year award.
A Daytona 500 pole, a career-best second at Sonoma and a move from the driver's seat to team ownership define David Gilliland's career.
What was his early national-series experience?
The 2003 Craftsman Truck Series event at Las Vegas was his first major NASCAR attempt, and he failed to qualify. His Busch Series debut at Phoenix qualified him 28th, but an early crash left him 43rd at the finish.
A 2005 victory in the Toyota All-Star Showdown came after the apparent winner, Mike Olsen, was disqualified for running light wheels wider than the rules allowed. That result drew the attention of Busch and Cup team owners.
In 2006 he drove a part-time No. 84 Clay Andrews Chevrolet and was mentored by former Sprint Cup winner Jerry Nadeau. Finishing races was a struggle early in the year, but on June 17, 2006 he won at Kentucky, the first Busch Series victory of his career.
He was the first 2006 Busch winner who was not also running a full Nextel Cup schedule. FX announcer Hermie Sadler described the result as the biggest upset in Busch history.
How did his Cup Series career begin?
Gilliland made his Cup debut in June 2006 at Infineon Raceway, qualifying 31st and finishing 32nd. In August he replaced Elliott Sadler in the No. 38 Yates Racing Ford, and on October 7, 2006 he took his first Cup pole, at Talladega's UAW Ford 500.
He went full-time in the No. 38 for 2007, with M&M's and Mars as sponsors. Mars then moved its 2008 backing to Ricky Rudd's ride at Yates, so Gilliland had to win over a new sponsor for the car.
He opened 2007 with a second career pole at the Daytona 500 and finished eighth in the race. For the rest of 2007 he split Busch Series rides with Team Rensi Motorsports, and his best result was tenth at Daytona.
At Talladega on April 28, 2007 his qualifying lap averaged 192.069 mph (309.105 km/h), identical to Jeff Gordon's speed. Because Gordon held the points lead, the pole went to Gordon and Gilliland started second.
How did his Cup results compare season by season?
| Season | Car and team | Points finish | Best result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | No. 38 Yates Racing Ford | 28th | Eighth at the Daytona 500, after a pole |
| 2008 | No. 38 Ford, FreeCreditReport.com and Citi Financial | 27th | Second at Sonoma Raceway |
| 2009 | TRG Motorsports No. 71 Chevrolet, plus one-off rides | 37th | 14th at Las Vegas |
| 2010 | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 32nd | 19th at Martinsville and Sonoma |
| 2011 | Front Row No. 34 Taco Bell Ford | 30th | Third at the Daytona 500 |
| 2012 | Front Row No. 38 Ford, Long John Silver's | 30th | 13th |
| 2013 | Front Row No. 38 Ford, Love's Travel Stops | 26th | Second at Talladega |
| 2014 | Front Row No. 38 Ford, Love's | 30th | Pole for the Coke Zero 400 |
| 2015 | Front Row No. 38 Ford, Love's | 32nd | 11th at the Daytona 500 |
How did the 2008 season go?
For 2008, FreeCreditReport.com and Citi Financial, backers from the team's Busch Series operation, became the sponsors of the No. 38 Cup car. The season produced a career-best second place at Sonoma Raceway, which was the highest Cup finish of his career.
The year was not free of trouble. At Texas, NASCAR penalised him for wrecking Juan Pablo Montoya. He again recorded two top-ten finishes and edged up to 27th in the points.
What happened to his Cup career in 2009 and 2010?
In January 2009 the No. 38 team closed for lack of sponsorship, and its points were moved to Hall of Fame Racing. Gilliland then missed the 2009 Daytona 500 without a ride before TRG Motorsports hired him for the No. 71 Chevrolet.
TRG was short of funding by May, and Gilliland was forced to start and park on several occasions. He later drove a three-race deal in a Joe Gibbs Racing No. 02 Toyota, plus one-off rides for the Wood Brothers, Robby Gordon and Phoenix Racing. He still finished 37th in the points despite running for so many teams.
In 2010 the BAM Racing entry could not make the Daytona 500 field and closed down. Gilliland then found a seat with Front Row Motorsports, where he finished 32nd in the points, with his best results at Martinsville and Sonoma.
Which races stood out in his Front Row years?
In 2011 he drove Front Row's No. 34 Taco Bell Ford full-time and finished third in the Daytona 500, the team's best result in a race up to that point. It was his second-best Cup finish at the time.
The 2012 Daytona 500 was another close call that went wrong. A late red flag was lifted, and he was shuffled back to 23rd. His best finish that season was thirteenth, and he ended the year 30th in the points.
In 2013 he moved back to the No. 38 Ford. At the spring Talladega race he pushed his Front Row teammate David Ragan across the line first, in a green-white-checkered finish that gave the team a one-two. Gilliland's second place tied his career best and his 26th in the points was the best of his Cup career.
In 2014 he won the pole for the Coke Zero 400 at 199.322 mph (320.778 km/h), the first pole for Front Row and his first since 2007. He still finished 30th in the points that year.
How did his full-time Cup career end?
The 2015 season was Gilliland's final full season in NASCAR's Cup Series. He finished 11th at the Daytona 500 and 18th at Bristol, and ended the year 32nd in driver points.
He was replaced in the No. 38 by Landon Cassill in 2016. The No. 35 Daytona 500 attempt ended without a spot in the field, but he qualified for Talladega and finished 17th, his only other starts that year.
In 2018 he attempted the Daytona 500 for Ricky Benton Racing, but a wreck in the Duel race meant he had to switch to a backup car. His attention that year went mostly to the Camping World Truck Series.
How did Gilliland become a team owner?
Gilliland's move into ownership came through the Truck Series. Working with Bo LeMastus, he acquired the Red Horse Racing operation, which became DGR-Crosley, where Gilliland ran a partial schedule in the No. 54.
Under the rules Todd could not race on tracks over 1.25 miles until May 15, 2018, so his father substituted for him in the Truck Series race at Daytona. Gilliland had also driven DGR-Crosley entries at Daytona and Martinsville.
DGR-Crosley reverted to David Gilliland Racing in 2021 with Johnny Gray as co-owner. The team's season-opening Truck race at Daytona that year ended with Gilliland 14th.
Tricon Garage, the team he has run since 2017, enters both Truck Series and ARCA races. In 2020 he drove the DGR-Crosley entry in the ARCA Menards Series East at Dover, finishing second, and he went on to win the ARCA Menards Series West finale at Phoenix that year.
A 2021 incident on pit road at Bristol cost him a one-race suspension and a US$1,500 fine. He was third at Dover in the ARCA East that same year, and in 2023 he finished 14th at Charlotte before a crash at Talladega left him 35th.
What is Gilliland's record as a crew chief?
Gilliland was crew chief for his father's 1997 Winston West Series championship season, when the pair won four races. He returned to the role in 1998, and they won three more races together.
He returned to crew chief duties in 2020, guiding Taylor Gray to fourth in an ARCA race at Springfield. Working from the pit box gave him a different view of the sport from the one he knew as a driver. He also served as crew chief for his son Todd at Nashville Superspeedway, where the younger Gilliland finished second.
How has the Gilliland family influenced NASCAR's junior ranks?
Todd Gilliland became the youngest winner in ARCA history on May 17, 2015, at age 15, when he won at Toledo Speedway. That win made the Gilliland name the family of three generations of winners in the series.
The family's record now spans the West Series, ARCA and the Truck Series, with David building teams and Todd racing for them.
How is Gilliland remembered in NASCAR?
Gilliland is remembered for a Cup career built on short-term rides and occasional bursts of speed: a Daytona 500 pole in 2007, a third-place finish in the 2011 Daytona 500 and his 2014 pole for the Coke Zero 400. His best Cup points finish came in 2013, when he was 26th.
Away from the Cup series his record includes a Busch Series win at Kentucky, a track title at Perris Auto Speedway and a 2020 win at Phoenix's ARCA West finale. In team ownership he has built Tricon Garage into an operation that enters both Truck Series and ARCA races.
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