Gilliland Is Driven to Make Major Circuit : Racing: Shop owner, who has Winston Cup aspirations, is one of a few stock car drivers in Southern California.

The garage at Anaheim Truck and Auto Service is like any other repair shop’s in Southern California.

There are cars on lifts, mechanics milling about, and the shrill sound of an air wrench interrupts the radio every so often.

But a closer look reveals a novelty of sorts--a stock car, sitting off to one side, that belongs to the shop’s owner, Butch Gilliland.

If this were the South, where stock cars seem to be standard equipment in most garages, this wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.

But stock cars are a rarity in Southern California, and Gilliland is one of only a handful running on the Winston West circuit.

Winston West cars are designed to the same specifications of those run in Winston Cup racing by drivers such as Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace.

But Winston West racing is a much smaller and lesser-known circuit with an 11-race schedule in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Texas.

Gilliland’s dream is to be a full-time Winston Cup racer, but for now he’s concentrating on building up his team as well as his business.

“We’d like to get back East to make a few of the (Winston) Cup races,” Gilliland, 35, said. “But we just get so darn busy with the shop that it’s hard to find time to get away.”

Gilliland raced motorcycles when he was growing up in New Mexico and later when his family moved to Southern California. He switched to cars once he married his wife, Laurie, 12 years ago.

“Once I got married, had a family and a business, I couldn’t keep racing bikes,” Gilliland said. “The risks were too great. Cars are much safer.”

His greatest success in car racing has come in “Enduro Race,” where a track puts up a winner-takes-all $5,000 and as many as as 100 street-legal cars battle for 200 laps. Gilliland said he won about 15 of the 20 Enduro Races he entered.

From there, Gilliland moved to Winston West racing. He ran one race in 1987, three in ’88 and then raced full-time in 1989. He finished 10th in overall points that year and was seventh in 1990.

Last year, he teamed with crew chief George Jefferson, who had worked with Derrike Cope and Chad Little, both current Winston Cup drivers.

Gilliland finished third three times and no worse than fifth in seven of the nine races in 1991. He also won his only pole position at Bakersfield and finished third in the standings.

Despite his success, Gilliland was ready to call it quits after last season because of expenses.

Though he’s able to work on his engine at his shop, it still costs about $100,000 a year to race.

His won about $35,000, but even champions have a hard time making ends meet on this circuit.

Bill Sedgwick, who won the overall title, made nearly $75,000.

Also, Gilliland’s shop began taking more of his time, not to mention his three children--son David, 16, and daughters Lisa, 10, and Amanda, 7. David is spending summer working part time at the shop.

Gilliland put his car up for sale after the last race in Phoenix, but a few things happened to help change his mind.

In early January, he received a call from Shaver Specialties in Torrance wanting to know if he’d be interested in having the company sponsor his engine program.

Next, a call came from Hoosier Tires asking if they could sponsor him with tires.

Well, by late January he was ready to return to racing, what with his two biggest expenses provided for.

In both cases, the sponsor provides the equipment in exchange for their name on the car and a chance to test products in race conditions.

Gear Engineering of Los Angeles also sponsors Gilliland, but like many racers, he is looking for a major sponsor.

“Having an engine and tires takes our burden down,” Gilliland said. “But it’s still hard to try and run up front without a major sponsor.”

Gilliland also got some help from just down the street in Anaheim. Jim Perkins, the general manager of Anaheim Electronics, called about buying the car, and Gilliland sold him half.

In February, the pair formed Anaheim Racing. Perkins had first became aware of Gilliland’s car when he drove by and saw it parked outside the garage.

Now, not only does he have his business’ name painted on the Pontiac, but also spends his weekends working on the car in the pits. Members of Gilliland’s repair shop also work on the pit crew.

“It’s an experience not everybody can have,” Perkins said. “You’re around a 650 horse-power engine and you’ve worked on it, and how well the car does depends on how well you did your job.”

Such financial assistance helped Gilliland return to racing this season.

Unfortunately for Gilliland, the season has become one of frustration thanks to a variety of little things that have gone wrong at each race.

He did finish second at the Alpha Beta 200 in Santa Clarita in late May, but only after giving up the lead late in the race when his tires wore down.

When Gilliland goes to Tenino, Wash., for the Uhlmann 200 on Aug. 1, it will be his 39th Winston West start, and he’s still looking for his first victory. He’s in fifth place after six races.

“It’s disappointing not to have won yet,” Gilliland said. “But the sponsors and the rest of the crew are very positive, so it keeps me up and wanting to do well.”