Yates to give Gilliland walking papers

David Gilliland appears to be the odd man out at Yates Racing, where the team says it will field three cars following its new partnership agreement with Hall of Fame Racing.

Along with Paul Menard’s No. 98 and Bobby Labonte’s No. 96, Travis Kvapil’s No. 28 team is expected to remain while Gilliland and the No. 38 appear to be out.

“I just heard of the thing today, from the Internet, so that’s what I assume," Gilliland said Wednesday afternoon. “I haven’t actually had a sit-down with them, but I’m still under contract with them through 2009. So we’re just going to have to work through it, and hopefully, we can get something else going."

Gilliland said he’s sorting through the contract and seeing what he’s able to do and what the next step could be, but he understands that the current economic climate makes it tough.

He was “a little bit" shocked that he is now likely without a ride just a few weeks before the Daytona 500 and the start of the new Sprint Cup season.

“It’s just kind of a bummer that it’s this late in the [offseason], you know?" he said. “We’ll just have to see what we can come up with and see what we can try and do."