TRG continues to play role of David against Goliaths (cont'd)

Gilliland, under contract with Yates Racing but rideless with no sponsorship, was ride-shopping at Speedweeks 2009. In a classic networking move Hylton, whom Gilliland knew from working together at Yates, set up a meeting with Buckler.

"We thought we were gonna try the next race and someone said, 'You've got to meet this kid. He's a good driver and he's out of a ride,' and we hooked up," Buckler said. "I knew he'd had an accomplished career and that he was a racer. He got a bum deal [in 2008] through no fault of their own and he wasn't able to show his stuff.

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"We needed a real [fire-breather] to qualify our way into the show, because that was our first goal. We've had to have a little different program, which is to set a goal, reach it and then reset. What's impressed me about [Gilliland] is, I gave him a whole different set of instructions, which was probably different than what he was used to: Be conservative, be smart, we've got good equipment but we're a startup little team. The risk is high, but the reward could be high, too, but we've got to balance it. Don't take chances."

The issue, at the time, was that the backup car for the first three intermediate track races was Daytona's superspeedway car. Prior to Bristol, Buckler praised his team, and its driver.

"We had to really be conservative, because it's a chess game, not checkers," Buckler said. "We had to get through qualifying, then finish the race and get some points. And every one of those marks, David hit perfectly, just perfectly."

Labbe was with R3 Motorsports at Daytona, but hooked up with TRG immediately after. His merger with Gilliland has been nothing short of magical, though the veteran mechanic is low key about it. He said he knew what mattered about his driver.

"I saw him win that Busch race at Kentucky, and that was a good one," Labbe said, laughing. "When you're in the sport you get to know people, you meet people and you watch people. I've always known that David was a quiet guy, kinda reserved and really the opposite of me, because I'm kinda outgoing and not afraid to say what's on my mind. He's more reserved.

"That's why the odd couple sometimes works. We get along, he gives me my space and tells me what he thinks is wrong. He gives me my time and space and we just work it out. It's a good combination. I can't believe we've hit it off as good as we have, but I've never really in my career had a young driver. It's just a breath of fresh air for me and I'm really enjoying working with him. It's a lot of fun."

Gilliland, who raced hard enough to get inside the top-35 cutoff while protecting the team's only downforce car, said it was barely possible to quantify what having to qualify each week meant.

"People will never understand the pressure," Gilliland said. "It's just one of those deals that you just can't explain the way it feels going out there. We've had a lot of pressure each and every week, but we've done what we needed to do."

Short-staffed hardly fits this team, which finally got its first short-track car just before Bristol. Right after that, Hylton said they took delivery of their Martinsville primary car. Labbe said the relatively undamaged Bristol car would go into the rotation for Darlington, if the team enters.

Above all, after Bristol, Buckler had a good perspective on what his NASCAR group, an off-shoot of his sizeable and diverse sports-car operation, had achieved.

"I know it's coming at us kinda quick," Buckler said, grinning. "But I think one of the advantages in coming over here was that I knew enough to know there was a whole lot to learn. A lot of people come in thinking they're going to re-invent the wheel, and they got whacked.

"I came in trying to be smart enough and knowing that we had a lot to learn, head down, mouth closed, with a humble approach and to be a sponge -- and learn, learn, learn. And that's what we've been doing."