GILLILAND QUALIFIES 13TH IN THE HEAT OF THE DESERT

Source: Elevation Motorsports
Date: 11/11/2006

AVONDALE, Arizona – Under the sunny, hot desert sky, David Gilliland posted a fast qualifying lap on Friday and put himself and the #38 M&M’S Ford on the seventh row to start Sunday’s Checker Auto Parts 500k at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR).

With a speed of 133.05 mph, Gilliland circled the one-mile track in 27.057 seconds, for the 13th best lap of the day. During the practice period earlier in the day, Gilliland and the M&M’S crew worked hard on the #38 M&M’s Ford and was posted 28th at the end of the 90-minute period. His time of 27.380 seconds, or 131.483 mph, was slower than the circuit Gilliland made during qualifying. With a late qualifying draw, going out 40th of 51 cars, Gilliland benefited from cooler track temperatures and shady track conditions.

“We are really happy with that lap but I really felt like the car was better than that,” said Gilliland, after his qualifying run. “That was a good pick up for us from where we were in practice. The car just pushed up the race track a little bit. We’ll get it fixed for race trim and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Gilliland’s Robert Yates Racing teammate, Dale Jarrett, struggled during practice, posted 47th, but will start his #88 UPS Ford Taurus from the 27th starting position after posting a lap speed of 132.10 mph, or 27.253 seconds. Jarrett picked up six-tenths of a second during qualifying after practicing with a time of 27.938 seconds.

Although shy of the track record of 26.499 set by Ryan Newman in 2004, Jeff Gordon, who was fastest in practice, sped around PIR in 26.773 seconds for his second pole of the season. Kevin Harvick, who went out last in qualifying, will start beside the newlywed on the first row, missing the pole by less than 0.100 seconds. Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joe Nemechek round out the top-five starters.

The Checkers Auto Parts 500K is scheduled to start at 1:25 p.m. MST (3:25 p.m. EST). Pre-race television coverage is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on NBC. Radio coverage will broadcast on the Motor Racing Network affiliates.

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