#38 - can he stay in top 35

[Chris]

well Gilliland has his CUP ride...
Currently the #38 car is 23rd in points (2307)...
SO,.. whats the scoop... DO you folks think he can KEEP the car in the top 35 in points by the seasons end.
Right now 35th is Kyle Petty with 1904.  Thats a 400 point difference.
Got 12 races to go....  hhuummm

I think David is a good driver,.. but NO MATTER WHO is in a RYR car,.. that whole organization is still struggling. 
If Sadler who has shown he is a top 10 driver (had two top 10's in last three races,.. and COULD of finished in the top 10 this week also)
Even Sadler couldn't put those crappy chassis in the top 10... and could only manage about 22nd in points before he left.
Jarret is 26th.
I just hope Gilliland don't come in,.. run poorly,.. and get the TEAMS failure blamed on him.

SO,... what do you think... Can a unorganized, struggling team,.. put in a raw CUP rookie, and keep the car in the top 35 in points.  RY seems to think so or he wouldn't have made the move.  400 points seems like a lot,.. and I suppose it is,... but just 3 or 4 last place finishes can drop a team down the running order in a HURRY.
this will be interesting to watch as the season winds down.

[SMOKEN14]

Well I think RYR made a big mistake signing gilliland he is not that great of a driver. He finshed 4th last year and 3rd in 2004 racing in the west series  just because your dad was a good racer doesn't mean you will be good... look at justin labonte kerry earnhardt  jarret's kid Rudd's kid the list goes on with kids trying to follow in their fathers foot steps that don't make it.......  yes his father Butch gilliland won a couple winston west titles that don't mean david is gonna be a champion too

[Chris]

well.... I can't say I agree with that smoken...
David MAY very well be a good driver.
I think right now he is in a NO WIN situation.
He's in equipment that is ALREADY proven it is inferior... so how can you expect a raw rookie to make it run in the front.?
Also driving a CUP car is different than driving a BGN car,... smaller spoiler, more horsepower, etc.

I think if he was in a TOP ride like with Roush or Hendrick he COULD be posting MUCH better results... and would progress much faster.

You are right there are drivers son's sho just don't seem to have the talent that their fathers had,... but on the other hand they have to be given the proper equipment to be given a fair shake.

[FS JessNicholas]

I think the problem with David Gilliland is that he simply wasn't ready for this, and with the turmoil Yates is going through it's just making it that much harder on him.

To answer the original question, yes, I think the 38 will stay in the top 35. They had too big of a head start to fall out in such a short amount of time. For Kyle Petty to catch him, Petty would have to win four races and Gilliland finish nearly last in all four. Neither is going to happen, obviously, because not only is the lead too big, the 45 has been junk over the last two months.

Gilliland caught lightning in a bottle in the Busch series and that's going to hurt him. I don't think Yates is going to give him more than a year to prove himself. That organization is in full-blown panic mode right now.

Jess