Drivers won't bow from pressure to be next David

Oh, the headlines:

• "David slays goliaths"
• "Gilliland shocks NASCAR"
• "One for the little guys"
• "Believe the HYPE"

In 11 laps, David Gilliland arrived on the NASCAR radar as a giant flashing light. It was one year ago this weekend that Gilliland took his part-time Clay Andrews-owned team into Victory Lane at Kentucky, becoming the first non-Cup-affiliated team to win a Busch race in 29 races.

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It was a victory for the ages, a refreshing breath of air for the under-funded Busch-only teams.

A week later, another Busch regular won, albeit in a Cup-affiliated car. But the short-lived taste of upset propelled Gilliland into a Cup ride before season's end.

Gilliland won't be in Sparta this weekend to defend his victory, so now the question becomes: Who will be this year's David to the Cup goliaths? There are plenty of candidates.

"Throughout my career I have cross-trained and raced in multiple series at the same time, stock cars, open-wheel and sports cars, and am used to jumping into a new car and peeling off hot laps," said 19-year-old Brad Coleman, who will make his seventh start of the season and first Busch Series start at Kentucky in the No. 18 Chevrolet.

But he's raced there before.

Last year he was racing on Saturday at Kentucky, only it was the ARCA race. The teenager weathered a rain delay and several veterans to earn his first major victory in stock cars. He promptly did his burnout, got out of his car and bowed to all three directions of the crowd, which prompted the name "Brad Coleman Bow."

The Joe Gibbs Racing youngster has shown tremendous promise with three top-20 finishes. He earned the pole at Talladega and wound up ninth after leading 14 laps.

But before he can become the next Gilliland, he's going to have to take care of his car at the 1.5-mile track for Saturday's Meijer 300 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2) -- a brand-new car, at that.

"I am not concerned one bit about taking a brand-new car to Kentucky," Coleman said. "I appreciate the confidence the team has placed in me by bringing a brand-new racecar that the guys worked so hard to build and putting a rookie in to go try and win the race."

The ARCA experience will be beneficial for Coleman. But there are others who have much more time on the track in larger, heavier stock cars -- or trucks.

"Having raced in a truck at Kentucky will help me, but the vehicles are totally different," said Timothy Peters, who will drive RCR's No. 21 Chevrolet for the seventh time this season.

Aric Almirola is in the same position.

"I don't have a lot of experience at Kentucky, other than the Truck race last year, but I really like the track," said Almirola, who will be Coleman's JGR teammate in the No. 20 Chevrolet.

Kertus Davis has one Kentucky Busch race under his belt, but he said, as in Gilliland's case last year, experience can sometimes have too much emphasis. Most of the success depends on the team, which for him is Kevin Harvick Inc.'s No. 77 Chevrolet, and on the driver's fitness.

"I don't have a whole lot of experience at Kentucky, I've only competed in one Busch Series race at the speedway in 2005," he said. "I'm trying to stay as focused as possible this week, on my normal routine of working out and eating right."

Whether it's experience, fitness or equipment, all the Busch regulars are still going to have one hurdle to overcome: Cup drivers. Seven will be making the flight from Michigan to Kentucky and compete in both races. It's been proven over and over -- including last week when Carl Edwards won at Nashville -- that the traveling doesn't bother the Cup guys.

But it's also been proven the Cup guys can be beaten, particularly at Kentucky.

"Even though the Nextel Cup is in Michigan, we expect to see a lot of Cup drivers making the trek to Kentucky," said Dave Rogers, Almirola's crew chief. "I am confident that Aric and his team can run with them."

Added Coleman's crew chief Jason Ratcliff of his young driver: "I would like to see him win for a number of reasons, and one of them is because I want to see how he jumps out of the car before the smoke clears and do that bow thing he does."