BRISTOL, Tenn. – On hand to watch his son Todd Gilliland try to make NASCAR K&N Pro Series East history Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, David Gilliland confirmed to CATCHFENCE.com that he will compete in the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Gilliland will drive a third entry for Front Row Motorsports as a teammate to Chris Buescher and Landon Cassill. Gilliland attempted to make the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify.
Despite missing his first Cup race since 2010 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gilliland is a wise choice for the upcoming race on May 1. In 17 starts overall at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, the Riverside, California native has two top-five finishes and four top-10s overall including a thrilling 1-2 finish for FRM in 2013 pushing then teammate David Ragan to his second career Cup victory.
While Gilliland has enjoyed watching son Todd do magical things on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series side, the 40-year-old is ready to get back behind the wheel.
“I’m excited about it,” said Gilliland. “We’ve been busy working with Todd and BMR and all the folks in the K&N Series, but I’m looking forward to it. We have an off-weekend, so Todd’s going to let me go race. We’ve been joking about it. He said he’ll even driver coach me.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun with it. Talladega is a very special place and we’ve had some great runs there and to get back with Front Row Motorsports and Bob Jenkins, they’re putting a lot of effort into it and I’m excited about it.”
Gilliland mentioned that they have sponsorship for the car, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
There’s speculation that Gilliland could also run the road course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen International for FRM, Gilliland said, however, the approach is to take one race at a time.
“We’re just going to take it one race at a time,” he added. “Todd’s gonna run the K&N races at both of those weekends, so we’ll be there. We’ll see. I would love to do it for sure. I miss driving, but man I’ve been having so much fun with Todd and working with him and trying to develop him. He’s got a bright future ahead of him, he still wants me to help him and be there to coach him. If I can help, it’s what I wanna do.”
But before Gilliland can zip up his racing uniform again, he’ll take the primary role as a father and watch his son try to become the first driver in K&N Pro Series history to win five consecutive races dating back to Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway last November.
And even though the elder Gilliland is not in the seat full-time, he said he wouldn’t change it for the world.
“It’s been awesome, it’s been awesome to be there,” said Gilliland. “I’ve missed so much in the last 10 years and he’s raced for me for like the last 10 years, but I’ve missed a lot cause I’ve been over here (NASCAR) watching it on my phone. To be there and be able to get very special pictures made in Victory Lane, it’s been a lot of fun.”
As for the younger Gilliland who will tackle the tough 0.533-mile speedway for the first time this weekend, David thinks his driving style will suit him around “Thunder Valley.”
“It’s one of my favorite race tracks, but I think he’ll do well,” sounded Gilliland. “Over the years watching him and knowing his driving style and the kinda tracks that have suited him in the past, I think it’s going to be right up his alley and he’s going to really enjoy it.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
