Statesville, N.C. (November 15, 2011) - Look for two Gillilands to don firesuits and go racing this weekend at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. David Gilliland will be behind the wheel of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford for Sunday's Ford 400, the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. His 11-year-old son, Todd, will be behind the controls of an Xbox 360 console competing in "Battle of the NASCAR Kids."
The younger "Gilly" is participating in a competition among drivers' kids playing "NASCAR Unleashed," a newly released racing video game. The event will be held Saturday morning at the speedway, with each child competing for a charity of his choice. Todd is competing for Sherrills Ford Optimist Park, a recreation center in the Gillilands' hometown that suffered fire damage earlier this year. He'll sport a white and purple No. 34 jumpsuit, patterned after his dad's race uniform.
The elder Gilliland will run his sixth career Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, looking to end the No. 34 team's season on a high note. The team earned a 25th-place finish on its last visit to the 1.5-mile oval one year ago - Gilliland's best career finish at the track.
Comments from Front Row Motorsports driver David Gilliland heading into Homestead and ending the season:
"Todd's excited for this tournament. He's been saying since they first invited him to participate that he's going to win. He's been practicing and he's ready. And the fact that it will send some support to Optimist Park will make it even better. We just moved to Sherrills Ford recently, so it will feel good to help our new hometown.
"It's been a long season. But we're already excited and looking forward to building and improving our team for next year. We've learned a lot. We had some good runs. We found some strengths in our team, and some weaknesses as well that we're going to work through and hopefully improve on.
"Homestead was a really good race for us last year. We ran really well in our last race of the year. So I'm looking forward to going there and hopefully coming out with a good finish. A good finish from Homestead always helps the off-season seem a little shorter.
"Homestead is a great track. It's one of my favorites, just because you can run from top to bottom, basically all over the place. And you've got the championship being decided, so there's going to be a lot of energy and excitement. This is exactly what NASCAR had in mind when they created the Chase. It's going to come down to the last race of the year. Who knows, maybe even the last lap."