Mooresville, NC | 09-27-2005

Billy Ballew Motorsports returned to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race with hopes of repeating their 2004 victory.  However, luck wasn’t on their side this time around and the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet with driver David Gilliland finished in 22nd position.  Gilliland, who was making his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut, was BBM’s eighth driver this season.

The two morning practice sessions were critical for Gilliland and the No. 15 team.  With Gilliland having limited experience in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series vehicle, the goal was to get him acquainted with the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet Silverado and Las Vegas Motor Speedway as quickly as possible.  The first session had him as 26th quickest, although he complained of being too free.  The team made several changes during the practice session, as well as during the brief break between the two practices, including changing the right front spindle.

The second practice session proved to be dramatically different than the first.  Gilliland went out and said the truck was much better and he was happy with the changes.  The team made some small adjustments and hoped to send Gilliland out to make a mock qualifying run.  However, two trucks got in the way of the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet in their attempt at the mock run, so the team never truly knew what the truck and driver were capable of doing.

“It’s tough for a rookie to come in here (the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) because of the tire rule,” said Gilliland.  “We need to practice, but we need to save tires for the race too.  So, how much time do you spend in practice trying to get the truck right but not wearing out your sets of tires?  We got messed up in our mock qualifying run when two guys drove in front of me, but I knew the truck was good and ready for qualifying.”

The truck might’ve been good in the final practice session, but Gilliland found out the No. 15 was still a bit free during qualifying.  Gilliland lost control of the truck in turns three and four during the first of his two qualifying laps.  The momentum he lost cost him in turning in a faster second lap, clocking in with an official time of 33.984 secs., placing the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet 30th on the starting grid.

Good luck did fall Gilliland’s way on lap two when a multi-car crash occurred right in front of him.  Gilliland drove through the melee, safe from harm, as some of the other competitors Gilliland was battling did not have the same fate.  “I just eased off the gas and picked a line,” explained Gilliland during the red flag.  “It was like ‘Days of Thunder’.”

After running several laps, Gilliland radioed into crew chief Richie Wauters about the handling of the truck.  “It’s way too tight in the center,” said Gilliland.  “I’m super tight behind people.  I can’t get on the gas coming off and it’s sliding both front tires.”  A long green flag run caused the No. 15 Chevrolet to go a lap down on lap 40.  The team was forced to make a pit stop under green.  Wauters called for several changes during the stop, including adjustments to the track bar, wedge and left front shock.  During the second caution period 10 laps later, Gilliland brought the No. 15 back down pit road for more changes.

On lap 90, the No. 15 ditech.com Chevrolet suffered a flat right front tire and was forced to come back down pit road for right side tires under green flag conditions, dropping Gilliland from one down to three laps down to the leaders.  Gilliland still had a tight condition that didn’t seem to be able to be cured with Wauters’ numerous adjustments to the No. 15.  Gilliland would ride the remainder of the race to finish in 22nd position.

“The race didn’t turn out as good as we’d liked it to,” said Gilliland following the race.  “The truck was tight the entire race and we made a lot of adjustments, but the changes just didn’t work.  I wish I could’ve had a better showing for ditech.com and Billy Ballew Motorsports.  It’s always easy to think about how much better you can do, but you do all you can do.  Luck wasn’t on our side tonight.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a three-week break before returning to action at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va.  Kyle Busch will once again be behind the wheel of the No. 15 Chevrolet when racing resumes on Saturday, October 22.