Little-known David Gilliland stunned the NASCAR world by becoming the first non-Cup driver to win a Busch Series race this season. Credit: Autostock

Upstart Gilliland set an early course for action

Driver played golf as a youngster to set up future business contacts

Even at age 30, David Gilliland looks more like an assistant golf pro than a winning NASCAR driver.

Gilliland, a sharp dresser, can usually be found in a polo shirt and pants, with a heavy stainless steel sports watch on his left wrist. He is rarely seen without a golf hat over his combed hair.

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Gilliland, who won the Busch Series race at Kentucky last month while driving for unsponsored Clay Andrews Racing, was actually prepping for his racing career via the golf course.

How?

Gilliland grew up in a racing household -- his father, Butch, won the Winston West title n 1997 -- and Gilliland knew early on that mastering the business side of racing was an excellent way of securing sponsorship.

The business world has coined the term "customer golf," or the process of securing or making business contacts on the golf course.

Strange as it sounds, making contacts was a major reason Gilliland played golf as a kid in California.

"I knew by playing golf that it might help me from a business side of racing," said Gilliland. "That was my whole purpose of being on the course. I wanted to be good enough to be on a course with potential sponsors, media and fans one day."

Gilliland was good enough to play on the high-school team at Western High in Anaheim, Calif., where he was a teammate to Tiger Woods.

Gilliland was Woods' teammate for two seasons before transferring to another school.

"I just couldn't beat Tiger at golf or ping-pong," Gilliland sad. "He was winning everything and shattering records, too.

"If I can do on the track what Tiger has done on the golf course, I'll be pretty successful. He set the bar pretty high in his sport, and hopefully I can do the same in mine."