During the offseason, Brendan Gaughan made the jump from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in the No. 77 Kodak Dodge field by Penske-Jasper. While Gaughan will make his first Daytona 500 start, he'll miss the inaugural nighttime running of the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 on Friday night, Feb. 13.

But Gaughan will be in attendance watching his Orleans Racing team, which is owned by his father Michael, in action with its new driver Steve Park.

"Dodge and Kodak and Jasper scheduled me to do an appearance about 8 p.m. on Friday night," Gaughan said. "I had to beg and plead to get out of it. I'm going to be on my Craftsman Truck box watching Steve Park do his deal."

from Daytona International Speedway News