By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
After a breakout season in 2019 for David Gilliland Racing – Crosley Group, the team will join Ford Performance beginning with the 2020 season.
DGR–Crosley’s partnership with Ford Performance includes a multi-year manufacturer agreement. The organization will field Ford Fusions in late model and ARCA competition along with Ford F-150s in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.
The team will once again field two full-time trucks and one part-time. The number of cars in ARCA and late model competition are to be determined. Driver line-ups for the team will be announced at a later date.
At Stocks for Tots at NASCAR Technical Institute, DGR–Crosley co-owner David Gilliland stated, “We’re going to run the ARCA Showdown, Trucks, and the ARCA East schedule. We’re looking at two full-time trucks and possibly a third part-time.”
For Gilliland, the move to Ford is a home coming. The Riverside, Calif. native competed with Ford in the NASCAR Cup Series for 10 years with Front Row Motorsports and Yates Racing. Gilliland earned four top-five and eight top-10 finishes in the Cup Series with Ford.
“We’re very excited to have DGR-Crosley come to Ford as part of our long-term efforts to develop drivers for NASCAR,” Mark Rushbrook the global director of Ford Performance Motorsports explained.
“We have just scratched the surface of what is possible in developing the next generation of Ford drivers with people like Chase Briscoe, and we believe a coordinated effort with a team like DGR-Crosley will help move that process forward successfully. David Gilliland was a trusted and valued Ford driver in NASCAR for many years, and we look forward to renewing that relationship with him in this new effort.”
2020 marks the third season in the Truck Series for DGR – Crosley. The team earned its first victory with Tyler Ankrum at Kentucky Speedway in 2019. In 95 Truck starts, the organization has nine top-five and 23 top-10 finishes.
In ARCA Menards Series competition, the team has 21 starts over the past two seasons. Todd Gilliland earned the first ARCA win for the team at Talladega Superspeedway in 2019. The team has five top-five, 15 top-10s, and three pole positions in ARCA.
“I’m super excited about the partnership with Ford and how things are lining up for 2020,” David Gilliland stated. “I spent a lot of time racing Fords throughout my career, and it’s really special to now be able to bring them into our race shop.
“A lot of time and consideration was spent on this decision, and internally we know that this is the move that we needed to make in order to advance our program to the top level. We have a great group of hard-working, talented people at DGR-Crosley, and with Ford coming on board, our future is really bright. We’re excited for all the things ahead.”
In addition to the national-level competition, DGR–Crosley earned the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Championship with Ankrum. Last year, the team returned to victory lane in K&N competition with 2018 NHRA Pro Stock Champion Tanner Gray at South Boston Speedway.
The predecessor to today’s incarnation of DGR–Crosley won the 2014 CARS Tour Super Late Model Championship with Raphael Lessard.