Story from Saturday’s NASCAR Grand National West Series race from Infineon Raceway
by Dale Bosowski  Click here for Pictures of Saturday's GNW Race

Riverside’s David Gilliland took advantage of his starting position from the pole and employed the correct pit strategy to register a convincing victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Grand National Division West Series Blue Lizard Suncream 200 race at Infineon Raceway near Sonoma.

Afterward, Gilliland, who now competes full-time in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, celebrated the victory with his father Butch, who won the same race 10 years ago.

Although pit stops shuffled the lead positions through the midway point of the race, Gilliland moved back into the lead on lap 35 and never relinquishing the top spot for the remainder of the 64-lap event. P.J. Jones and road race specialist Boris Said followed him to the checkered flag.

"We had a great car today, but it was still nerve racking out there," said a smiling Gilliland. "I just tried to stay focused and not miss a shift or go off the track."

In order to limit the number of crewmen going over the wall during pit stops, special rules put in place for Saturday’s race that forced teams to make separate stops for fuel or two tires maximum. While many teams made multiple stops to for both, Gilliland’s team elected to minimize their time in the pits by only stopping for fuel and running the entire race on one set of tires.

"I lost the Southwest Tour race here two years ago because of pit strategy and today we won it because of pit strategy," said Gilliland. "Our plan was to stop about lap 22 under green and then go the rest of the way without stopping again. And that is exactly what we did."

Results were mixed for the area’s local entries.

Escalon’s Eric Holmes started the race from the sixth spot of the 38-car field and quickly worked his way to fourth. Unlike Gilliland, Holmes made multiple pit stops for both fuel and tires at mid race and was shuffled to the middle of the pack as a result. He spent the remainder of the race battling back to the front and ended up right behind Said with a hard earned fourth.

"After the pit stops we got stuck behind some slower cars and it was really tough getting past them," said a disappointed Holmes. "At the front, the top cars were so equal that it was almost impossible to pass. It came down to whoever got to the position first stayed there."

It was a day that West Series points leader Mike David, of Modesto, would just as soon forget.

David was running among the leaders in the early going until he lost control of his No. 2 Bennett Lane Winery Ford on the backstraight and slid into the dirt. He was able to recover in time to stay on the lead lap and methodically worked his way into the top ten only to become involved in a series of calamities during the final ten laps of the race.

"The car was good and everything was going fine until the end of the race," said the dejected David, who finished 24^th. "My team worked so hard, I am disappointed, especially for my team that worked so hard all weekend."

Despite his mishaps David maintains a 1,090 to 1,006 lead in the West Series standings over Bakersfield’s Mike Duncan who finished 16^th Saturday.

Merced’s Kenny Shepherd, driving the No. 95 Save Mart/Mountain dew Chevy, overcame a multitude of mechanical problems to finish ninth and Oakdale's Wes Banks, driving the No. 3 Orco Construction Supply Dodge, finished just ahead of David in the 23^rd spot.

"We had problems all weekend so it was pretty cool that everything held together during the race and we scored a top ten," said Shepherd, who was taking the week off from his regular duties as Madera Speedway track promoter. "I’m only disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to mix it up with the big boys up front."

Although Gilliland was perfect on the track, he did not have everything go according to plan either. An in car radio malfunctioned would not allow Gilliland to talk to his crew although he could still hear them.

"During the yellows I was weaving back and forth and sticking my hands out the window, trying to do sign language," laughed Gilliland. "Afterward I told Todd Parrott, my Nextel Cup crew chief, not to get any bright ideas about unplugging my microphone for Sunday’s race."