Veteran drivers gave Gilliland a wide berth after he took over Robert Yates’ No. 38 Ford last year. He made a big jump from a field-filling Busch team to a mid-level Cup team with a superb history, and at times, he looked very much like a rookie.
Maybe his pole at Daytona meant he had finally turned a corner. Or maybe not. Though he managed an eighth-place finish in the season opener, he’s not finished in the top 20 in the two races since.
Moreover, he’s again raising concern among veteran drivers.
“I don’t know what the 38 was doing,” said Kasey Kahne, who wrecked out of Sunday’s Las Vegas race after tangling with Gilliland. “First off he’s hard to pass. Then you get by him and he’s two laps down and he starts battling. I let him go and he still didn’t pass me. I have no idea what he was thinking, but that’s the way it goes.”
Juan Pablo Montoya — technically a rookie, but we all know better — said Gilliland got in his way after Montoya went a lap down to eventual winner Jimmie Johnson. But Montoya’s words weren’t nearly as pointed as Kahne’s.
It’s hard to be too critical of Gilliland in this instance, given that the track and tire combo were a problem for all of the drivers, regardless of skill and funding levels.
At the same time, it’s not hard to believe that Gilliland might not have many friends in the garage. Any goodwill he might have could get used up quickly.
• OVERHEARD — BUT NOT WHERE YOU’D EXPECT: The folks at LiveATC.net, a Web site for flight and air traffic enthusiasts (of which I am one), posted a clip of an incident earlier this month.
Delta 412, a Boeing 737 flying from Phoenix to New York, came in for its landing at JFK. Upon touchdown, however, a tire blew. Though the plane taxied to the gate without incident, there was some debris to clean up on the runway. An alert pilot from Aer Lingus heard the pop, noticed the unusual smoke and alerted the JFK tower.
Air traffic controllers kept all the affected planes informed. But there was little they could do until airport workers ensured the runway was safe for traffic; that led to some downtime.
Here’s the transcript from one of those quiet moments (which is a rarity for a place like JFK):
Tower (to the Delta pilot): I want to see your maintenance guy get out there, jack it up, fill it with fuel, four fresh tires and a Coke for the driver in, uh, 14 seconds.
Delta pilot: I’ll let ’em know.
Unidentified pilot 1: NASCAR country.
Unidentified pilot 2: Think Daytona!
Tower: Boogity, boogity, boogity — right guy?
I’m trying to imagine the Aer Lingus pilot saying “Boogity, boogity, boogity!” on takeoff clearance. He must’ve thought we’re all crazy.
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David Gilliland’s pole at Daytona was a feel-good story to start the season — maybe he had put a rough introduction to Nextel Cup racing behind him.
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