NASCAR Cup
Martinsville: David Gilliland preview
David Gilliland: Why do you enjoy racing at short tracks such as Martinsville? "Martinsville Speedway is a track that I enjoy racing at because of the fact that it's a short and flat track. Those kinds of tracks are very familiar and ...
Published: Mar 27, 2008, 5:21 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
David Gilliland:
Why do you enjoy racing at short tracks such as Martinsville?
"Martinsville Speedway is a track that I enjoy racing at because of the fact that it's a short and flat track. Those kinds of tracks are very familiar and comfortable to me because I started my racing career out West and a lot of the tracks I cut my teeth on had similar traits with that of Martinsville. Every time we have the opportunity to race at a short track on the Cup series circuit, I always look forward to it. After our Top-10 finish at Bristol last race, we really have some momentum coming into this weekend at Martinsville and I'm looking forward to another outstanding finish for our FreeCreditReport.com Ford."
How physically demanding is racing at Martinsville versus other tracks on the circuit?
"Martinsville is a very physically demanding race track because you are constantly using your legs to either throttle up or brake into the turns, so I personally ride the bicycle a lot as we get closer to short track races in order to build up the stamina that I'll need during the 500 laps. We also make sure that all the fans and blowers inside the car, as well as those associated with the brakes, all work properly headed into the weekend because Martinsville is always one of the hottest races we run when I'm sitting on the inside of that car."
Crew Chief, Cully Barraclough:
Coming off of your top-10 finish at Bristol, how confident are you headed into this weekend?
"We were able to do a short track test earlier this season at Phoenix and the car we are taking to Martinsville is the same car we tested at Phoenix. We had a great run at Bristol and that Top-10 finish gives our team a lot of momentum going into this weekend with the second short track race of the season so far. When you go to a place like Martinsville the focus is on brakes and the rear gears of the car. Since these short tracks don't allow the cars to have any lengthy straightaways, the temperatures heat up rather quickly inside the car. Our focus is to maintain our brakes and to stay out of trouble all race long so that at the end of the 500 laps, our FreeCreditReport.com Ford Fusion is intact."
-credit: yr
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Martinsville: Kurt Busch preview
Next article Martinsville: Kasey Kahne preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Gilliland
Experience beats youth in latest father vs. son battle
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Experience beats youth in latest father vs. son battle
Five things to watch in Friday's NASCAR Truck race at Dover
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Five things to watch in Friday's NASCAR Truck race at Dover
David Gilliland gives RBR a top 15 finish in first Daytona 500
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Daytona 500
David Gilliland gives RBR a top 15 finish in first Daytona 500
Latest news
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
General
Misc General 5 min
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
27 min
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
49 min
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Marco Bezzecchi leads Aprilia 1-2-4-5 in Friday Practice
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe