David Gilliland will make his debut for Front Row Motorsports with Yates Racing at Auto Club Speedway which the Riverside, Calif. native deems his home track. Gilliland will pilot the No. 38 Taco Bell Ford for this race and the majority of the season after starting his year off with a different team at Daytona where he failed to qualify for the Daytona 500.

“It's agonizing to miss any race, and having missed the Daytona 500 was just plain heartbreaking. But, California is a brand new start for me, and I'm looking forward to what's going to be a good challenge for me,” Gilliland said. “Front Row Motorsports with Yates Racing is one of the fast-growing teams in the garage, and owner Bob Jenkins asked me to race his third car this season.”

The upcoming Auto Club 500 will be the first time Gilliland will work with crew chief Randy Seals in a race scenario.

“I'm ready to get going and see what we have. Randy (Seals) and I have spoken a bunch at the shop. We feel like we have a good game plan,” he said. “It's going to be important to create that base the next four weekends and stay locked in. I'm just ready to get back into the weekly routine."

The team and Gilliland are looking forward to this event, Gilliland especially since he will be competing in front of his home crowd.

"And, really, California is a track I want to race well at. I've got a lot of family and friends there who have supported me all my career. I remember racing West races at the track, going into the Nationwide Series and now Sprint Cup. You just want to run well in front of the people who have followed you through your career.”

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