by Mike Snow - Orleans Racing

Driver: Brendan Gaughan

Owner: Michael Gaughan

Event: Florida Dodge Dealers 250

Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL

Friday, February 18, 2005 – 8:15 p.m. (EST)

Qualifying: Thursday, February 17, 2005 – 6:30 p.m. (EST)

2.5-mile oval, 250 miles/100 laps

Notes of Interest:

Gaughan rejoins the series where he enjoys to race, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Gaughan makes his first run of an 18-race 2005 schedule with new to the Craftsman Truck Series sponsor, Jasper Engines and Transmissions.

Gaughan readied his famous Lonestar Dodge Ram for competition here at Daytona. The truck made four consecutive stops in victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway over the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Better Bring Shades: The Florida sun showcases the bright yellow #77 Dodge Ram that Gaughan will be driving throughout the year. The yellow is unique to the Jasper family, and stands out in both bright sun and under the lights, handy given that the truck will make appearances under both conditions here at Daytona.

Gaughan on Daytona:

Good to Be Trucking?

Everybody likes to say “back in the truck series” but I want to do is some races in the Craftsman Trucks because they’ve been so much fun over the years. The goal of Orleans Racing is to have fun.

I’ve said all along I’ve wanted to be with a sponsor for 20 years and retire with them and Jasper Engines has joined us in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Orleans Racing, which is my family and close friends. It’s exciting to be back in this fashion.

Which Truck Is Up For Daytona?

This weekend I’m running my famous Lonestar Dodge. It’s arguably one of the most famous trucks in the history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Of course it’s the Dodge that won four consecutive Texas races.

When we were talking about which truck to bring every truck is Steve’s (teammate Steve Park) and we have to get him the best stuff for the championship so we made Lonestar a Daytona truck. We moved the body a little bit and did the work needed for Daytona and I want to see if that old Lonestar magic is still left in the thing.

Have To Qualify on Speed --- Any anticipation with that?

I backed the Chase for the Championship in Nextel Cup; that was neat. This new point system I don’t think I’m going to be backing so much. I don’t think it’s fair to teams that bring an extra vehicle, the guys like Morgan Shepherd and Kirk Shelmerdine and the guys that worked hard to show up every week. I don’t understand it.

There’re 40 some-odd trucks showing up for six positions once you take out the top-30. So we definitely have to come down here and put the Jasper Dodge in some form of qualifying trim to make the show.

We came and tested in January and had a fantastic race truck. The Jasper Dodge was going to be one of the best three trucks on the track. Unfortunately I couldn’t keep that race truck. I had to make it qualify better to make the show. We had to take some of the racability out to make sure we make the show and that bums me out. NASCAR put us in the position that if somebody shows up with a pure qualifying setup they’re going to race horrible but they’ll qualify great. I’m not a big fan of the system yet.

Meet the Crew:

Name Hometown Shop Duties Race Day Duties
Brendan Gaughan Las Vegas, NV General Manager Driver
Billy Wilburn Kernersville, NC Crew Chief Crew Chief
Travis Sharpe Bassett, VA Truck Chief Rear Tire Carrier
TBD Rear Tire Changer
Chris Boller Prescott, AZ Truck Driver Front Tire Carrier
Josh White Bakersfield, CA Rear Suspension Front Tire Changer
Craig Nemes Bothell, WA Mechanic Jackman
Scott Witz Tucson, AZ Fabricator Gas Man
Mike Robinson Toole, UT Mechanic Catch Can
Ray Poyner Engineer Engineer

Listen in on the #77: The team’s primary radio frequency is 451.3371.