DAVID GILLILAND, M&M’S®/Shrek the Third Racing
Lowe’s Motor Speedway
May 27, 2007

TEAM 38 FOCUSES ON LOCAL HEROES THIS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

CHARLOTTE, NC (May 22, 2007) – On this Memorial Day weekend, as the nation pays tribute to our heroes in the Armed Forces, RYR co-owner Doug Yates is asking his team to remember two local Charlotte heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty, Officers Jeff Shelton and Sean Clark of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department. A native of Charlotte, Yates is donating a portion of Sunday’s race winnings from the #38 Team to assist with the re-building of two Charlotte-area parks, which will be dedicated as memorials to the officers.

Driver David Gilliland is hoping to score a solid finish in Sunday’s race in support of Yates’ charitable contribution. Joining Gilliland again this weekend are the stars of this week’s top rated box office flick, Shrek the Third, who return to the quarter panels of the M&M’S® Ford after an abbreviated ride in last Saturday’s NEXTEL Open.

Quoting Doug Yates…
On supporting the Shelton-Clark Memorial… “For me this is a personal project that really started with the loss of Officer John Burnette, who was a friend of mine, and killed in the line of duty in October 1993. My dad and I decided to donate a portion of our winnings from the Charlotte race in October of that year to the Police Benevolent Fund. Ernie Irvan was driving for us at the time and he ended up winning the race that night and it made the win even more special because of what we were doing.

I am a native of Charlotte and it’s very rewarding to give back to those who sacrifice so much for our community. My wife, Whitney, and I were listening to the Ace & TJ Show one morning recently and they were talking about the memorials for Officers Clark and Shelton and I knew that it was a project that I wanted our team to be a part of once again.”

Quoting M&M’S® Driver David Gilliland…
On this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600… “Last weekend was obviously a huge disappointment for our team because we believed we had a car capable of finishing either first or second and transferring to the All-Star race. Looking at the big picture, at least it wasn’t a point’s race. The toughest part is that it was a good car that we wanted to run in the future so the guys are busy back at the shop rebuilding. Fortunately last week’s car was not the car Todd was planning on bringing for the 600 so we believe we should be a little better this weekend and can score a good finish for the M&M’S Team.”

NOTES OF INTEREST…