Viewed as one of the best restrictor-plate competitors in the sport, David Gilliland returns to Front Row Motorsports and Ford Racing looking to build on successes over the last two seasons.

Gilliland, the son of West Coast Stock Car Hall of Famer Butch Gilliland, established his reputation as a restrictor-plate dynamo in the 2011 Daytona 500 when he hooked up with fellow Ford driver Carl Edwards on the final restart and charged through the field. The two-car tandem looked like a couple of horses making a late kick down the homestretch of the Kentucky Derby, but they fell just short at the start-finish line with Edwards finishing second and Gilliland third. The effort was noticed by two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart, who worked with Gilliland in the April Talladega race and helped him to a ninth-place finish.
 

Heading into his fourth season with Front Row Motorsports driving the No. 38 Ford Fusion for owner Bob Jenkins, Gilliland looks to build on the two Top-10 finishes from 2011 and a 2012 campaign that say him finish 30th in points.

* Gilliland came out of nowhere in 2006 to become a household name in NASCAR circles. At the time Gilliland was driving for an unsponsored, part-time NASCAR Busch Series team owned by Clay Andrews. Lightning struck and he became the first non-NASCAR Cup Series driver to win a then-Busch race in ‘06. Gilliland captured the Meijer 300 presented by Oreo at Kentucky Speedway in June in only his seventh series start.

* Robert and Doug Yates put together the right offer and secured Gilliland as their new driver of the No. 38 Ford Fusion, replacing Elliott Sadler at Michigan in August of 2006.

* David and his wife Michelle have two children, Todd and Taylor.

DID YOU KNOW?

David Gilliland became the fourth driver in the modern era (1972-present) to win the pole for the Daytona 500 in his first attempt when he did in 2007 with Yates Racing.  The others are Loy Allen (1994), Mike Skinner (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).