He has been a longtime competitor in the Winston West / Camping World West Series,[3] competing against Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick.[1] He regularly competed for over a dozen years, accumulating six pole positions and over 24 top five finishes.[1] His best career West finish were two second-place finishes.[1]
Racing career
Gaylord first Cup car in the pits at Sears Point in 1991Gaylord on the track in his West Series car in 2005
Gaylord followed in his father's footsteps by starting to race on road courses and he has over 60 wins on circuits.[1] He has won class championships in SCCA and IMSA, and has also competed in numerous 24 Hours of Daytona events.[1]
Gaylord regularly competes in the NASCAR Camping World West Series, a regional touring series on the west coast of the United States. He was named the "Most Popular Driver" in the series in 1998 and 2002.[1] Since entering the series in 1988, he has accumulated 87 top 5s and five poles, but has yet to earn a win.
Winston Cup Series
Gaylord's first attempt in the series came in 1988, when he failed to qualify at Phoenix International Raceway. He would make his next attempt in 1991 at Sears Point Raceway. Driving the #00 Oldsmobile for Geoff Burney, he qualified 31st and finished 33rd, thirteen laps down. In 1992 and 1993, Gaylord ran the Sears Point race in the No. 52 Chevrolet for Means Racing, earning a career-best finish of 29th in 1993. After failing to qualify for any races in 1994 or 1995, he made his final series start to date in 1996. In a self-prepared No. 00 Chevrolet, he qualified 29th and finished 38th, once again at Sears Point.
Gaylord's father Les Gaylord was a race car driver.[1] Les' first competed in 1951 on an Aspen, Colorado street course with his wife as the passenger.[1] He won many SCCA regional and national events.[1] Les stopped racing when a serious accident caused the 80-year-old to retire.[2]
Gaylord asked his future wife, Donna, for their first date over his pit radio while driving slowly during a caution period of an SCCA Escort Endurance Championship event and competing against her.[1] She continued to race until she became pregnant with their second child.[1] During her career, she won an SCCA Divisional championship and an SCCA Escort Endurance event.[1] Their sons, Tripp and Ryan, are both race winners.[1] When 14-year-old Tripp attempted his first start in racing, he used his mother's driver's suit.[1]
