Brendan Gaughan
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| Born: | July 10, 1975 | |
| Birthplace: | ||
| Awards: | 2002 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year
drove a Dodge Ram SRT-10 to a Guinness land speed record for "World's Fastest Production Pickup Truck" by driving 154.587 miles per hour |
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| NASCAR Cup statistics | ||
| 36 races run over 1 years. | ||
| Best Cup Position: | 28th (2004) | |
| First Race: | 2004 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | |
| Last Race: | 2004 (Homestead-Miami Speedway) | |
| First Win: | ||
| Last Win: | ||
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 4 | 0 |
Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is a truck racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. Gaughan is the grandson of Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan and son of Michael Gaughan, a hotel and casino magnate. He drives the 77 Jasper Engines & Transmissions / American Racing Dodge in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
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[edit] College
Gaughan attended Georgetown University and played collegiate basketball as a walk-on for the Hoyas with friend, former roommate, and now Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson. Gaughan earned All-Conference honors as a placekicker on Georgetown's NCAA Division I-AA football team where he became known as an extra point specialist, converting 39 of 40 extra point attempts during the 1994 season for the highest extra point percentage in Hoya history. He was nicknamed "Baby-Rudy" by the Hoya students because of his walk-on status on the basketball team and his close physical resemblance to Notre Dame Fighting Irish legend Daniel E. "Rudy" Ruettiger, whose story was documented in the 1993 blockbuster hit Rudy.
Gaughan frequently attends Philadelphia 76ers games and even sported corn rows in honor of his idol during a race at Dover International Speedway during the 2002 Craftsman Truck Series season.
[edit] Off-Road career
Brendan won his first race in a 1991 SNORE (Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts) off-road race. He was the Class 10 SNORE champion in 1991, 1992, and 1993.
In 1995 he moved to SODA (Short-course Off-road Drivers Association) series driving a Dodge Ram from the Walker Evans team. He was the 1995 Class 13 champion, and contrary to what his website says, he raced in Class 8 in 1996 but did not win the championship as the champion was Scott Taylor, who also won in 1997. He moved with most SODA drivers to CORR at the end of 1997 and raced in the Pro-2 category through 1998 where he finished 3rd behind champion Rick Johnson and Scott Taylor.
His biggest wins came at Crandon. His multiple wins there solidified his reputation as one of the premier off-road racers at the time with his most memorable battle coming between himself and Nascar Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson in 1996. The two dueled throughout the race with Johnson having to come from behind after being spun out by Scott Taylor. However, Johnson's truck succumbed to crash damage from a previous incident with Jimmie Crowder, and Gaughan took his first win at Crandon in a pro category. This battle was a precursor to the battles they would have later on in Nascar when Brendan raced in Cup in 2004. He followed the win with a repeat performance the next year at Crandon, this time piloting a Chevrolet.
[edit] NASCAR career
He then decided to move to stock car racing. He was the 2000 and 2001 champion on the NASCAR Winston West series. He raced in a few Craftsman Truck Series (CTS) events.
In 2002, he got back together with former fellow off-road racer "the Legend" Walker Evans in a Walker Evans Racing CTS truck. He raced full-time, winning twice, on his way to the Rookie of the Year title.
2003 was Gaughan's breakout year. Driving the #62 Orleans Dodge for his father Michael, he picked up where he left off in '02, scoring six wins, the two most notable of which were at Texas Motor Speedway which gave him four straight wins at the track.
Despite his dominance, Gaughan could not hold off three other drivers, who had closed up on his championship lead going into the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Gaughan started the race as the points leader, with Ted Musgrave (#1 Ultra Motorsports Mopar Dodge) in second, Travis Kvapil (#16 IWX Motor Freight Chevrolet) in third, and Dennis Setzer (#46 Acxiom Chevrolet) in fourth. All Gaughan needed to do was finish ahead of all three drivers to win the championship.
Fate, however, would not deal him a fair hand. On lap 101, Gaughan got into an accident involving Bryan Reffner and Musgrave's teammate Marty Houston, and could not continue. He would finish 29th in a 36 car field and fell from first to fourth in the points. (Musgrave, Setzer, and Kvapil were left to battle for the title, with Musgrave and Kvapil fighting each other for position up until the last restart. During said restart, Musgrave tried to pass before the restart, was black flagged after a long review, and Kvapil ended up winning the championship by virtue of his 6th place finish in the race.)
In 2004, Gaughan moved up to the NEXTEL Cup. He drove the #77 Kodak Dodge for Penske Racing. He finished second in the Rookie of the Year standings, and 28th in the final points standings. He finished the season with 4 Top 10's including a career best fourth place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. However, it wasn't enough for him to keep his job, and he was replaced by Kvapil, who beat him for the 2003 CTS championship.
In 2005, he moved back to the CTS, behind the wheel of the Jasper Orleans Racing #77 Dodge Ram. He finished 19th in the final points standings, with two Top 5 and 7 Top 10 finishes.
In 2006, he is still in the CTS but he is back in the blue Orleans colors. Starting with the September 23 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team will sport a new livery of the South Point Casino in which his father, Michael, is the owner.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Official team website
- Driver's page at racing-reference.info
- Brendan Gaughan Online
- Georgetown alumni spotlight[[Category:
|Gaughan, Brendan]]
