Brendan Gaughan Earns Fourth-Place Finish at Kansas Speedway
Brendan Gaughan and the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet team earned a fourth-place finish in the SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway Saturday afternoon.
The Las Vegas native started the 167-lap event from the eighth position and maintained a spot within the top 10 until lap 84 when Gaughan went a lap down to the leader while running in the 18th position after an untimely caution fell in the midst of a round of green-flag pit stops. Crew chief Shane Wilson instructed his driver to stay on track during the caution laps providing him the opportunity to take the “wave around”, regaining his lap and positioning him 15th for the ensuing restart. As the race progressed, Gaughan drove his way back into the top 10 on lap 96, despite battling a tight-handling Chevrolet Silverado. The South Point Hotel & Casino pit crew made adjustments to help combat the handling issue of the black and gold machine during a scheduled four-tire pit stop on lap 104. Armed with a fast truck, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series veteran raced his way into the top five, running as high as second, before collecting a fourth-place result. Following the top-five finish, Gaughan gained four positions in the driver championship point standings, moving into seventh.
Start – 8 Finish – 4 Laps Led – 0 Points – 7
BRENDAN GAUGHAN QUOTE:
“I can’t believe Ryan (Blaney) got around me on the last lap using the outside line. I didn’t think anyone ran a line higher than I do. He made a great move at the end and it was tough to give up third, but I’ll take a top-five finish any day. Shane Wilson made some great calls today that helped us gain track position, and my crew did a great job in the pits. Our team is getting into a pretty good rhythm right now, I hope we can keep this momentum going even though we’re about to take a three-week break.”