For Immediate Release

February 17, 2009

TRG Motorsports Ready for Auto Club 500 with Gilliland Labbe to crew chief

Mooresville, NC — David Gilliland  will drive the No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS in round two of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Sunday, February 22.  Daytona 500 winning crew chief, Richard "Slugger" Labbe, has also joined the team.
 
The 33-year old Gilliland raced in 2008 for Robert Yates behind the wheel of the No. 38   and was the 2007 Daytona 500 Pole Winner.  Gilliland is originally from Riverside, California, just up the road from Fontana.  He cut his teeth on ovals all over the West Coast in his ascension up the NASCAR ladder.
 
"I was at Daytona when Kevin (Buckler, TRG Motorsports team principal) called me," Gilliland said.  "It is a good opportunity, we are going to lean on each other."
 
"I am excited to run in my hometown.   When I lived in Riverside I was about 10 minutes from the track before I moved to North Carolina.  It is going home for me.  I won't sleep in my old bedroom but I will be as close as I have been in a while."
 
"Auto Club Speedway is a good track for me. I had a pole there in the Grand National West Series.  I finished 17th there last year.  I have had some good runs at the track.  It is the track that I have the most experience at on the schedule, which gives me a lot of confidence for the weekend.  It is a great place for me to debut with TRG Motorsports.  They didn't make the race at Daytona, and I think we can definitely change that this weekend."
 
"I haven't worked with Slugger in the past.  I think he left the week before I got to Yates.  I have worked with him the last couple of days and I am looking forward to racing with him on the pit box."
 
Slugger Labbe knows how to win in NASCAR's premier league. As a crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc., he won two races at Daytona including the 2003 Daytona 500.  Labbe most recently worked with Red Bull Racing in driver development.
 
TRG Motorsports' Kevin Buckler is determined to establish the team in the Sprint Cup Series.
 
"Daytona was a hard lesson," Buckler said.  "We are determined to put the right pieces in place to be successful.  David has the most experience in the COT car of any driver available.  Slugger gives us a lot of experience working with the COT car.  We were short a few pieces at Daytona, but I believe we have put the right people together to have a successful weekend in California."
 
The Auto Club 500 will be televised on FOX starting at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 22.  Qualifying will be televised live on the SPEED Channel, Friday, February 20 starting at 6:30 p.m. ET.
 
TRG Motorsports is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, where they run a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team as well as an ARCA RE/MAX Series effort.  2008 marked the first full season of competition for TRG in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where they recorded one win, one top-five and ten top ten finishes overall.  The team's sister company, The Racer's Group, was founded in 1993 has been competing at the top level of motor racing ever since.  The team kicked off this year's Speed Weeks on a high note by winning the GT class at the Rolex 24 Hour at Daytona.  TRG has the most wins of any team in the Grand-Am Rolex Series with 26, including the 2005 and 2006 Rolex Series GT championship trophy to go along with wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

More information and a complete press kit can be found at www.trgmotorsports.com. Please contact press@trgmotorsports.com or 704-662-7158 for additional information.

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