page_title: David Gilliland
section_title: Monster Energy Cup Series
hierarchical_section_title: David Gilliland / Racing career / NASCAR / Monster Energy Cup Series
caption_attribution_description: English: David Gilliland's No. 38 Ford waits to go out to qualify for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway, April 26 2013.
context_page_description: David Gilliland is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. Formerly a full-time competitor for a decade in the NASCAR Cup Series, he currently competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, driving the No. 54 Ford for his own team, DGR-Crosley, which competes full-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series. Born in Riverside, California, he is the son of former NASCAR Cup and West Series driver Butch Gilliland, and the father of current full-time Truck Series driver Todd Gilliland.
  After competing full-time in the West Series like his father, Gilliland ran part-time in what is now the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2006, and scored a win at Kentucky Speedway, which is considered one of the biggest upsets in NASCAR history. In his first full season in the Cup Series, Gilliland would win the pole for the 2007 Daytona 500.
context_section_description: Gilliland made his first attempt to make a Cup race in June 2006 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, in the No. 72 Dutch Quality Stone-sponsored Chevy for CJM Racing, qualifying 31st, and finishing 32nd. In August 2006, Gilliland replaced Elliott Sadler as the driver of the M&Ms/Mars-sponsored No. 38 Ford in the NEXTEL Cup Series for Yates Racing. On October 7, he qualified on the pole for the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the first pole of his career in the Cup Series.
  Gilliland went full-time in the Number 38 car in 2007 with M&M’s and Mars returning as sponsors. However, Mars decided before the 2007 season to move its 2008 sponsorship to teammate Ricky Rudd’s 2007 ride at Yates, in preparation for moving to Kyle Busch in 2008. This meant Gilliland needed to impress in 2007 to attract a sponsor for the No. 38.
  Gilliland started the season with a bang, winning his second career pole at the 2007 Daytona 500, his first points-paying race at the track. In the race itself, Gilliland finished eighth. Gilliland also drove part-time in the Busch Series for Team Rensi Motorsports with a sponsorship from FreeCreditReport.com in 2007, splitting the driving duties at Rensi with rookie Richard Johns. His best finish in Busch was a tenth at Daytona.
  In qualifying for the 2007 Aaron's 499 at Talladega on April 28, Gilliland recorded a speed of 192.069 miles per hour (309.105 km/h), which was identical to Jeff Gordon for the pole position. As Gordon had the points lead at the time of the race, Gilliland started the race in second, giving the pole to Gordon. Gilliland finished 28th in the Cup standings in 2007, recording two top-10s in his rookie season.
  In 2008, Gilliland’s Busch Series sponsor FreeCreditReport.com, and Yates’ Busch Series sponsor Citi Financial became the new sponsors of the No. 38 Cup car. He also ran three Nationwide Series races, one for Travis Carter and Carl Haas, and two for Mike Curb and Gary Baker. Gilliland recorded a career-best second-place finish in Cup at Sonoma Raceway. Kyle Busch won the race with Gilliland’s old sponsor, M&M’s, as Gilliland finished runner-up in his FreeCreditReport.com-sponsored Ford. At Texas in the fall, Gilliland was penalized by NASCAR for wrecking Juan Pablo Montoya. Gilliland again had two Top 10 finishes in 2008, improving slightly to 27th in points.
  In January 2009, his No. 38 Sprint Cup team was closed due to a lack of sponsorship and his points from 2008 were moved to the Hall of Fame Racing team of Bobby Labonte.
  After sitting out the 2009 Daytona 500 without a ride, he was hired by TRG Motorsports for the rest of the 2009 season to drive the No. 71 Toyota, with sponsorships from TaxSlayer, Capital Window, and American Monster. However, the season proved tough as TRG was short on funding by May, forcing Gilliland start and park on several occasions. In August, Gilliland failed to qualify a second TRG car, the No. 70, at Watkins Glen. By September Labonte was now part-time at Hall of Fame and it was announced he would bring much-needed funding to TRG in seven of the final 12 races, replacing Gilliland who would not have been able to run full races. Gilliland did run the other five races for TRG in the No. 71 with limited funding.
  Gilliland then landed a 3-race deal to drive a new part-time fourth Joe Gibbs Racing car, the No. 02 Farm Bureau Insurance-sponsored Toyota.
  In addition to his part-time rides at the No. 02 and the No. 71, in the second half of 2009 Gilliland also ran one race each in Cup for the Wood Brothers, in the iconic No. 21 Ford, for Robby Gordon in his No. 7 Toyota, and for Phoenix Racing in the No. 09 Chevy, also running several Nationwide Series races for Phoenix. Gilliland also failed to qualify a Gordon-owned No. 04 Toyota at Kansas. At California in October, Gilliland relieved a sick Kyle Busch after parking the TRG car.
  Gilliland managed to attempt all but two races in 2009 (the 500 and the fall Loudon race), salvaging 37th in points despite running for so many different teams. His best finish was a 14th at Las Vegas in the No. 71, 
caption: Gilliland in his 2013 Long John Silvers car
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