Riverside’s David Gilliland lands seat for Daytona 500

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David Gilliland, a NASCAR driver from Riverside, will drive the No. 49 car for BAM Racing in the Daytona 500, according to various reports.

According to reports from the Associated Press and Twitter, Gilliland will drive for BAM Racing in only one race, the season-opening Daytona 500 in Florida next month.

Gilliland is also entered in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale and will drive a car for Speed Wong Racing.

Gilliland, the winner of the 2005 Showdown race, and Joey Logano, the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year, are two Cup drivers entered in the All-Star Showdown scheduled for Jan. 29-30 at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

[Updated at 10:49 a.m.: Gilliland will also drive the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports for the majority of the Sprint Cup Series season. He will share driving duties with Robert Richardson Jr., who will race in the Daytona 500, the April race at Talladega Superspeedway and the July race at Daytona.]

Go to Haddock in the Paddock for more on Gilliland’s start to the NASCAR season.

-- Tim Haddock