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February 25, 2012

Gaughan, No. 2 Team Collected in Late-Race Incident at Daytona

Despite being collected in the late-race, multi-car incident, not of his doing, Gaughan posted a ninth-place average running position that ranked him sixth amongst the 36-truck field.

Start - 11th
Finish - 20th
Laps Led - 0
Owner Points - 20th

Brendan Gaughan and the No. 2 South Point Hotel & Casino team collectively kept themselves out of trouble during Friday night's 100-lap affair at Daytona International Speedway until a late-race, multi-car incident, not of their doing, ended their night early and relegated them to a 20th-place result. The new Richard Childress Racing driver started the 250 miler 11th and maintained a top-10 position for the opening 20 laps. A pit stop under caution for two tires and fuel occurred on lap 20 but the Las Vegas native was blocked in his pit stall by another competitor that resulted in a 15th-place restart position three laps later. Gaughan wasted no time making his way through the field, running inside the top eight by lap 40. Four caution periods transpired in the next 50 laps that saw crew chief Marcus Richmond either summon his driver to pit road for fuel only or keep him on the race track for position. During that time, Gaughan held his own inside the top 15 and found himself in the seventh position with seven laps remaining, setting himself up for a run at the checkered flag. An incident on lap 95 brought out the caution flag and set the tone for the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. He hooked up with fellow Chevrolet driver Ron Hornaday in the outer lane and gained momentum on those running in the inside lane before another multi-car incident slowed the field again. This time, Gaughan restarted sixth and as he and the field were coming to take the white flag, he slowed the black and gold Chevy to avoid the frontrunners making contact with each other. As a result, was he was tagged from behind and sent spinning, receiving damage that ended the team's night early with an undesirable 20th-place result.

BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
"The No. 2 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet ran great all night. When Hornaday and I hooked up at the end of the race, we hammered down and were headed towards the front. The Earnhardt Childress Racing engine was phenomenal. After the last restart, Matt Crafton was behind me pushing and as we were coming into the tri oval, I could see a couple of trucks in front of me making contact. Matt, obviously, couldn't see so when I slowed to avoid them, he bumped me and before we knew it, we were both in the wreck. It's unfortunate but I'm proud to be with RCR and racing in their top-notch equipment."

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