David Gilliland preview

Gilliland Is Familiar Up Front at Bristol
TMone Expands Involvement with Co-Primary Sponsorship

David Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Statesville, N.C. (March 15, 2011) - David Gilliland can easily see himself atop the speed charts at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway this weekend. After all, he's been there before. The driver of the No. 34 TMone/Taco Bell Ford led one of the practices when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited the famed short track last August. His team is ready to get back up to speed at the .533-mile oval this week when the series returns for Sunday's Jeff Byrd 500.

The Bristol race will also mark the growth of a team partnership. TMone returns to the No. 34 Ford for its third race this season - this time as a co-primary sponsor alongside Taco Bell. The Iowa City, Iowa-based company is a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) leader that provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Customer Service Selling (CSS) for many Fortune 500 companies. TMone has been on Inc. magazine's list of fastest-growing companies in the United States for the past four years. The company logo will be on the upper quarter panels, TV panel, C-post and decklid of the No. 34 Fusion.

Comments from TMone/Taco Bell driver David Gilliland heading into Bristol:

"I'm excited about going to Bristol. It's a track where we've run well in the past. In fact, last year, we were fastest in one of the practices there. So, I feel like we're going back with a good, solid set-up that we ran really well with last year and I'm looking forward to going back there. It reminds me a lot of Mesa Marin, a track I where used to race and where I won quite a few races back on the West Coast.

"I definitely feel comfortable there, and when you go someplace where you've had good success in the past, you go in with confidence. Working with Peter (Sospenzo) adds to that confidence, too. He's got so much experience as a crew chief and knows what works well at certain tracks, so taking what we had last year and tweaking it a little bit to adjust for the new car and everything, I feel good about how we're going to run at Bristol.

"Bristol is just one of those tracks. It's one of those races you circle on the calendar - fans, drivers, everybody. It's always exciting, so everyone looks forward to it. The racing has changed since they changed the banking, and there's not as much beating and banging as there used to be. But it's still good, hard racing and it's fun to watch and fun to drive.

"We've had TMone on the car the last couple weeks as an associate sponsor, and this week at Bristol they're going to be a primary sponsor. They've been a cool partner so far and we're excited to see them expand their involvement. It's good to see a new company, and a growing company, come into the sport and get involved. They're going to have a group of people at the race this weekend and we look forward to giving them a good show and a great experience."

-source: front row motorsports