David Gilliland will be racing in The Cruise America 125 at Phoenix International Raceway this Thursday in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite, Southwest Series race. But this time besides Gilliland’s familiar #88 of the MRG Motorsports team, fans will feel like they are seeing double as Kyle Busch makes his series debut in a similarly painted #85 Pontiac.
Gilliland, straight from a win at Mesa Marin Raceway in the last Southwest race he competed in, has worked feverishly preparing not only his car, but the car that Busch will drive for car owner, Mark Golembeski.
Said Gilliland, “I am so very fortunate to have the opportunity to drive for Mark (Golembeski). In addition to my duties behind the wheel, he has given me the opportunity to do something else I love, which is preparing and working on the cars. The car we prepped for Kyle for this one race deal was the one I won in at Phoenix last year and the car I will be driving is a new car. We only have a few laps in it, but it is an awesome car. Both of these cars should be rockets on the track, I am very pleased with the setup in them.
“Phoenix is one of my favorite tracks and I enjoy the speed. With our having such a good handling racecar I think as long as I stay smooth and pace myself until the end we should have a finish we can be proud of."
It was rumored that Gilliland was one of several drivers testing for a prominent NEXTEL Cup car owner this past week.
“We did do a test in North Carolina last week,” said Gilliland. “In fact the team I tested for will be in the stands this week. I hope that I have the opportunity to show them what I can do, I am feeling nothing but positive.”
Besides driving select events in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite, Southwest Series, Gilliland also competes fulltime in the NASCAR Grand National West Series where he is currently leading the Rookie-of-the-Year standings and is third in the point standings. Gilliland has 3 wins this season, 2 coming in the Southwest and one coming in the West series.
To learn more about David Gilliland, visit him on the web at: http://www.davidgilliland.com
The Cruise America 125 is scheduled for a 3:30 start. Fans may also turn in to www.RacingWest.com for near live coverage of the event.
