Gilliland returns to Cup with TRG

Having taken GT class victories at both the Daytona and Le Mans 24 Hour races, TRG are now expanding into stock cars, and are hoping that Gilliland can get them into the top 35 in owners' standings by Martinsville so that they can continue their Cup programme alongside their Truck and ARCA operations.

The team failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 with Mike Wallace, but owner Kevin Buckler believes Gilliland and newly-hired crew chief Richard 'Slugger' Labbe have the recent experience they need.

"Daytona was a hard lesson," Buckler said. "We are determined to put the right pieces in place to be successful. David has the most experience in the CoT car of any driver available. Slugger gives us a lot of experience working with the CoT car.

"We were short a few pieces at Daytona, but I believe we have put the right people together to have a successful weekend in California."

Gilliland burst onto the NASCAR scene in mid-2006, when he took a surprise Nationwide Series win at Kentucky Speedway and then replaced Elliott Sadler at Robert Yates Racing halfway through the Cup season. He proceeded to take pole at Talladega, and also started first on his Daytona 500 debut in 2007, but his best result for Yates was a solitary second place, and he lost his drive at the end of 2008.

The 33-year-old is optimistic that he can get TRG into the field at Fontana.

"It is the track that I have the most experience at on the schedule, which gives me a lot of confidence for the weekend," Gilliland said.

"It is a great place for me to debut with TRG Motorsports. They didn't make the race at Daytona, and I think we can definitely change that this weekend."