Brendan Gaughan Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service With his NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes on the line, Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron earned his first career victory Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 regular season finale. The victory was an automatic berth into the Playoffs for the 22-year old Byron – a hard-fought trophy in a typically full-contact, high-emotion contest on NASCAR’s famed Daytona high-banks to settle the Playoff field. The only two Playoff positions still up for grabs on the night were filled byRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Brendan Gaughan caps final Daytona 500 with career-best finish DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With 10 laps left in his final Daytona 500, Brendan Gaughan was two laps down. Two quick cautions, however—the last one coming on Lap 199 of a scheduled 200—got Gaughan back on the lead lap as the highest-scored lapped car just in time for the first of two overtimes. Gaughan made the most of the opportunity, driving up to seventh place by the time the race reached its chaotic conclusion, withRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – With the car of Ryan Newman sliding upside-down trailing sparks behind him, Denny Hamlin joined elite company on Monday night in the second-closest finish in Daytona 500 history. Hamlin beat Ryan Blaney to the finish line at Daytona International Speedway by .014 seconds, and while the driver of the No. 11 celebrated with a burnout on the infield grass, the emergency crew worked to extricate Newman from his No. 6 Ford, which came to rest on its roof at theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The youngest and the oldest driver on the grid have made “The Great American Race.” Both Justin Haley (age 20) and Brendan Gaughan (age 44) were not only the first two cars out to qualify, but they were fastest among the open cars during Sunday’s Daytona 500 qualifying and to each story is their own. For Haley, he was 31st fastest at 190.018 mph and the most recent NASCAR Cup Series winner at Daytona. Not only that, Haley making the field willRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Veteran racer Brendan Gaughan is set to hang up the helmet at the conclusion of the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway October 4, 2020. Last month, the Las Vegas native announced his intentions of retiring on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, but it didn’t catch wind until Auto Racing Daily published the report on December 18, 2019. Motorsports Tribune reached out to Gaughan’s team (Beard Motorsports), confirming it’ll be his final Cup season. Beard officially issued a press release Monday that the 62nd Daytona 500 will mark theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Moments after his No. 62 Beard Oil Motorsports Chevrolet went flying through the air at the end of the backstretch in the waning laps at Talladega, Brendan Gaughan emerged from the Infield Care Center with his signature sense of humor and explained the crash as only he could. “Stuck the landing,” Gaughan joked. “The Russian judge docked me a little bit. I didn’t keep it straight” Running in one of the only four races he runs each year, Gaughan had placed himself in position toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor When it comes to the early days of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, two drivers immediately come to mind as big players in the success and growth of the series through the late 90’s: Ron Hornaday, Jr. and Jack Sprague. Between 1996 and 1998, the two combined for 30 wins and a title for each of them. Hornaday, driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and Sprague, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, became natural rivals on track and heading into the 1998 season finale at Las VegasRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Correspondent One week after a mistake sent Joe Graf, Jr. home before the race even started, he will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway. At Michigan International Speedway, a mistake in qualifying sent Graf’s No. 21 EAT, SLEEP, RACE Chevrolet Camaro SS home. He had been 15th-fastest on the practice charts for the LTi Printing 250 in the Richard Childress Racing machine that weekend. Graf’s teammate Tyler Reddick went on to win the race. Graf is guaranteed to start the CircuitCity.com 250 onRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor TALLADEGA, Ala. – After the checkered flag flew in Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brendan Gaughan couldn’t help but smile, noting how much fun he just had driving his way to an eighth-place finish on the day with his underdog team. “I was telling the guys, ‘I don’t know what y’all think is so tough about this. I show up once every three months and drive into the top-10!’ This stuff is easy,” Gaughan said. “I miss this sport. It is a lot ofRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Chase Elliott seized the lead in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway during a four-lap shootout to the finish and took the checkered flag under caution after Kyle Larson barrel-rolled behind him. Elliott’s victory broke a Chevrolet drought in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series dating to last October at Kansas Speedway and broke a seven-race Ford stranglehold on the 2.66-mile track. The first driver not from Team Penske or Joe Gibbs racing to win this season, Elliott crossed the stripe aheadRead More