David Gilliland Racing wins ARCA race just days after tragedy
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
AVONDALE, Ariz. — David Gilliland didn’t know whether he should field a car in the ARCA race Friday at Phoenix Raceway.
The transporter carrying the team’s car crashed Tuesday in Texas on the way to Phoenix, killing transporter driver Steven Stotts and injuring two David Gilliland Racing employees who were riding with him, as well as one person in another vehicle.
Gilliland knew he had a car ready for the race next week in Florida that his team could get prepared for Phoenix, and he had additional personnel and a transporter used for his NASCAR truck series teams that could get that car and equipment to the race Friday.
But he didn’t know if the team should compete. Finally, he decided to do what racers often do amid tragedy: They race.
"The fact is that this is where we believe Steven wanted to be," Gilliland said. "Obviously, he didn’t make it. To come out here and race in his honor, we felt like it was the right thing to do."
The team did more than race. It won with 16-year-old driver Taylor Gray, who earned his first ARCA national series victory.
"Steven was looking over us," Gray said in victory lane following the win.
The accident occurred at 4:25 a.m. CT Tuesday on Interstate 20 near Longview, Texas. The Texas Highway Patrol said the preliminary investigation indicated that the David Gilliland Racing hauler ran into a small box trailer being pulled by an SUV. The DGR hauler ran into the center median, struck the concrete barrier and caught fire, with the trailer that had the cars in it turned to its side in the center median.
DGR employees John Zaverl and Michael Mizzelle were treated and released from the hospital following the accident.
"You never really think how important their job is [hauling the cars] until something like this happens, and then you step back and realize they are the only reason we come to the racetrack every weekend," Gray said.
Gray admitted that it was difficult to enjoy the win.
"This win is for them," Gray said. "Not for anybody else. All the glory to them. They went through a horrific thing."
In celebrating the win, Gray did not do a celebratory burnout but instead drove his car the opposite way around the track, something drivers have done in memory of others since Alan Kulwicki died in a 1993 helicopter crash. Kulwicki used to do that to celebrate his victories.
The celebration for the team was muted and somber.
"It’s been hard to even talk," Gilliland said. "I just tried to rally our guys together. We took all the stickers off the car. ... We debated not coming. To be able to come out here and race for the family in Steven’s name and Michael and John — just a terrible accident.
"I’ve never been through anything like that. Our guys pulled together and worked really hard."
By the end of the day, with the team still in shock, they had a car ready for the Phoenix track and on a transporter on its way to Phoenix.
"We had very, very few hours to reevaluate everything we had and come up with a plan," Gilliland said. "We felt like it was the right thing to do. Taylor has a big heart.
"This was our goal — we were very focused on trying to get here to victory lane. It’s hard to win any races, but everything lined up for us."
All the cars in the race had a decal in memory of Stotts, who was new to the DGR team. The team had hats with his initials and his name, as well as the names of those injured on the car in the area where the driver’s name is typically located.
"He was a part of our team," Gilliland said. "Losing somebody hurts. It’s going to take a very, very long time to heal. I’ve gone with the approach of one day at a time. And this is one day in the record books, and we’ll start again tomorrow."
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!
