Riverside’s Gilliland Drives to Busch Upset

After toiling in NASCAR’s lower ranks for several years, David Gilliland of Riverside drove to a stunning victory Saturday night in the Busch Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

Gilliland, 30, was driving in only his seventh start in the Busch Series, which is one step below NASCAR’s top Nextel Cup series.

But he passed the more experienced J.J. Yeley with 10 laps to go and kept the lead while also outpacing such Nextel Cup standouts as Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who also compete on the Busch circuit.

Gilliland’s victory in the Meijer 300 at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway made him the first non-Cup regular to win a Busch Series race this year.

“Unbelievable,” Gilliland said after climbing out of his No. 84 Chevrolet and wiping tears from his eyes. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve waited my whole life for this.”

Born in Torrance, Gilliland is running a limited Busch schedule this year for a start-up team after years of competing in NASCAR’s Grand National Division and other series that race at tracks in Fontana, Irwindale, Bakersfield and Perris.

He is a second-generation driver; his father Butch Gilliland won NASCAR’s western regional series championship in 1997.

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Jim Peltz

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Johnny Benson broke through with a victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, holding off a challenge from Mark Martin in a two-lap, overtime shootout at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

The race was scheduled to end on Lap 100, but the late caution set up the two-lap, green-white-checker finish. Martin did what he could, but Benson held off the No. 6 Ford F-150, winning by 0.112 seconds -- about two truck-lengths.

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Even starting seventh couldn’t stop Travis Thirkettle’s winning streak in Irwindale Speedway’s late models division.

Thirkettle passed Dan Di Giamarino on the 27th lap and led for the remainder of the 40-lap race on the half-mile track to win for the fifth consecutive time.

Di Giamarino finished second, 0.522 of a second behind Thirkettle in a race that ended with a green-white-checker finish.

Thirkettle, a Newhall resident, received $1,000 for the victory.

A collision on the 19th lap involving 15 cars caused the race to be halted for 20 minutes. The collision forced 10 cars out of the race, including Craig Yeaton, who was in third.

No drivers required medical attention, according to Kevin O’Brien, Irwindale Speedway’s chief marketing officer.

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-- Steven Herbert

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Bruno Junqueira won the pole for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland by eight-thousandths of a second over A.J. Allmendinger.

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Brandon Bernstein led Top Fuel qualifying for the 10th time in his career, topping the field in the K&N; Filters Supernationals with a quarter-mile run of 4.534 seconds at 329.50 mph at Englishtown, N.J.

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Ben Spies won the first professional motorcycle race at the new Miller Motorsports Park at Tooele, Utah, his seventh AMA Superbike victory of the season. Doug Henry won the AMA Supermoto race.

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Audi led Pescarolo Judd in the Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race after 200 laps.