DAVIDSON, North Carolina -- This weekend, NASCAR Busch Series Rookie David Gilliland, driver of the #84 Clay Andrews Racing Chevrolet, will be on one of motorsports biggest stage. Gilliland will be competing during Saturday’s O’Reilly 300 at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in front of thousands of fans. Meanwhile, Gilliland’s high school golf teammate, Tiger Woods, will be competing on another national stage, The Masters in Augusta, Georgia.
“I guess it’s a pretty big weekend for both of us,” said Gilliland. “I’m preparing for another big step in my career at Texas. Tiger is looking to place himself in the record books again. I’m sure we’re both excited for different reasons this weekend.”
Gilliland was a high school teammate to Woods growing up in California. Gilliland went to school with Woods from sixth grade up through his sophomore year at Western High School before Gilliland moved. Gilliland played two years of Varsity Golf with Woods.
“I was never his partner on the course,” recalled Gilliland. “You know, I was playing golf for a different reason. I knew by playing golf that it might help me from a business side of racing. That was my whole purpose of being on the course. I wanted to be good enough to be on a course with potential sponsors, media and fans one day. It’s really why I first started to play. I’m sure Tiger had a different reason to be out there then I did.”
“It was still cool,” continued Gilliland. “He set a bunch of records back in high school. I think everyone knew he was going to be good back then. He was good at different things, like ping pong. Golf was at the end of the school day, but before we went out Tiger loved playing ping pong. Yeah, he beat me at that too (smiling).
“It’s one of the reasons that I quit playing golf. I want to be the best at everything I do. I’m a winner. I want to win this weekend. I want to win championships. I just couldn’t beat Tiger at golf or ping pong. He was winning everything and shattering records too. It was frustrating. But, I guess if I can do on the track what Tiger has done on the golf course I’ll be pretty successful. He set the bar pretty high in his sport, and hopefully I can do the same in mine. We’re not on the same team anymore, but I know we’re both chasing success this weekend.”
Clay Andrews Racing is building a reputation as one of the fastest-growing teams in the Busch Series. They have acquired a 28,000 state-of-the-art race shop in Statesville, N.C., and owner, Clay Andrews, has appointed winning personnel. Motorsports professional Rich Gautreau is the general manager and veteran crew chief Billy Wilburn lead Gilliland in 2006. Former Nextel Cup winner Jerry Nadeau serves as the team’s consultant. The team is running a partial schedule in 2006 while looking to secure sponsorship for the long-term future.
