NASCAR

BUSCH: Phoenix: Gilliland double duty preview

PLANNING TO MOUNT A CHARGE TO THE FRONT David Gilliland to run West and Busch at PIR Riverside, CalifÃ¢^aÂ¦Planning to mount a charge to the front, not once but twice, David Gilliland and MRG Motorsports head for Phoenix International Raceway and ...

Edited: Apr 16, 2008, 12:40 AM

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PLANNING TO MOUNT A CHARGE TO THE FRONT
David Gilliland to run West and Busch at PIR

Riverside, Califâ^a¦Planning to mount a charge to the front, not once but twice, David Gilliland and MRG Motorsports head for Phoenix International Raceway and the running of the Casino Arizona 150 and the Bashas' Supermarket 200, April 21 and 22.

"I am really excited about this weekend," says Gilliland, who not only hopes to increase his point lead in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series, but intends to make his debut in the Busch Series. We've got a great car for the West Series and a great car for the Busch race, so I think we will be good to go.

While this will be the first time that Gilliland will try to race in the Busch Series, it will not be his first foray into the series. In 2004 he qualified Robby Gordon's car for him at Homestead, Fla., putting it in 8th place on the Grid. "I had never run at Homestead, and had never even been behind the wheel of a Busch car," explains Gilliland, "so it was a definite confidence booster. With that experience behind me, I feel we can make the field at Phoenix without too much problem."

One of the hottest talents in racing today, Gilliland the reigning West Rookie of the Year has a fair amount of experience on the "jewel of the desert" one mile superspeedway, including taking both the pole and the win at the West Series earlier this year. "We will be running our No. 88 RacecarCeilingFans.com Chevy in the West Series," continues Gilliland and our number for the Busch Series will be No. 54, just like the Classic TV hit of the 60's, "Car 54 Where Are You". If we can be as big a hit as that show was, we will be in fine shape."

After two Rounds, Gilliland holds a 25 point lead in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series and hopes to pad that even further this coming weekend. "We took a first at Phoenix and a second at Mesa Marin in Bakersfield," explains Gilliland. "While naturally we want to win every event, we know that the way to a championship is consistency and that is what we are aiming for. Being in the top three each time out will go a long way to help us win this year's title. This event is going to be 150 laps as opposed to the 100 laps we ran earlier. This means a pit stop for fuel and tires which definitely could work in our favor as our crew chief Mike Naake is dynamite on pit calls and we all know a race can easily be won or lost in the pits."

A highly skilled crew, two great cars and a talented driver are what MRG Motorsports will bring to Phoenix International Raceway and if their past performance is any indication, it is a good bet to say they will do well in both event.

-pn-

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