Catching up with … DAVID GILLILAND

NASCAR

Daytona 500 polesitter David Gilliland, driver of Robert Yates' No. 38 Ford, is embarking on his first full-time season in Nextel Cup and already has run second in the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. He met last week with reporters, including Rick Minter of Cox News Service, to discuss racing and good fortune.

Q. How much has your life changed since getting a Nextel Cup ride?

A. "It's changed in every way you could imagine, but it's definitely gotten a lot busier. I just don't get to spend as much time at home with my family as I'd like, but it's busy. I've got a parttime Busch deal I'm doing now, too, as well as a full-time Cup ride, so I'm learning a lot and that's what I need to do. I feel that the position I need to put myself in is to be able to learn as much as I can. That's my first and foremost goal."

Q. Have you bought an airplane or a motorhome?

A. "I bought a motorhome, but it's not as fancy as the rest of them. I was just talking to my motorhome driver last night about how you could need more, but I'm just saving a little bit. Like I said, first and foremost is I want to make sure I can stay here."

Q. Where were you a year ago when Speedweeks began at Daytona?

A. "I was working 15-18 hours a day in our Busch shop in Statesville [N.C.] trying to build race cars to run a 15-race Busch schedule. We did a good job on those cars and were able to win at Kentucky, and it's just snowballed from there. Originally with our Busch deal - the 84 car last year - our original plans were to come to Daytona and when we couldn't, I was heartbroken. Billy Wilburn was my crew chief and he said, 'This is a place that when you come here, you want to be 100 percent prepared,' and we wouldn't have been. But now, with [crew chief] Todd Parrott on our Cup side, I feel that we're every bit 100 percent prepared, so I'm excited and we'll see what we can bring out of here."

Q. Does racing in Nextel Cup meet your expectations?

A. "Yeah, it does. It's a lot busier. The biggest thing that caught me off guard was the offseason. I figured we'd have a little bit of an off-season, but I was busier during the off-season than I am in the racing season. As I talk to more and more drivers, they say they're all like that. I don't think I went more than two weeks without being in a race car the whole off-season. It was more like usually every week we were in a car, testing the Car of Tomorrow and Busch tests and Cup tests. It was very busy, but I feel really prepared to get the season started right now."

Q. How do you like the Car of Tomorrow?

A. "I like it. We've been making some great strides and big improvements on our program. I'm looking forward to that Bristol test and really see where we are."

Q. How does having the veteran Ricky Rudd for a teammate help you?

A. "It's a very positive addition for Robert Yates Racing and myself. I've leaned on him and gotten more out of him in the month or so that he's been here than I've ever got out of anybody else ever helping me. I'm just very surprised at how open he is to helping me. As a rookie, I can't tell you how much it means, like when you go to a test somewhere and you get out of the car and you can go straight to someone like Ricky and ask him a question and have it answered right then and there."

Q. Are you ready to win the Daytona 500?

A. "I'd like to think so. [The Budweiser Shootout] was my first race here and I learned a lot and I'm very, very thankful that we had that race ... I've learned a lot of what I need to tell [Parrott]. Our communication has come a long way, so we're excited and we feel like we've got a race car good enough to win the 500. I just need about 495 miles of experience and then we'll go for it the last five miles and try to do it."