Brendan Gaughan Pre Race Notes - California

THE DRIVERS ON AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY:

STEVE WALLACE (NO. 66 USFIDELIS CHEVROLET IMPALA SS):

YOUR OVERALL THOUGHTS ON AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY?:

• “Auto Club Speedway is a really wide, really fast track, where horsepower really comes into play. You spend a ton of time on the throttle and at really high sustained RPM, so reliability is also really important. In the past at California, we’ve really seen the aero push come into play, so track position will be pretty important on Saturday afternoon. We’ve worked really hard on our pit crews in the offseason, so hopefully they’ll be able to get us out up front, so we can get the track position we need.”

MUCH HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT YOUR ON-TRACK INCIDENT WITH JASON LEFFLER LAST WEEK AT DAYTONA; WITH A WEEK TO THINK ABOUT IT, HAS YOUR OPINION ON THE SITUATION CHANGED AT ALL?:

• “Not a bit. I saw Jason for a second in the airport after the race, but we haven’t really had a chance to talk about it. All I really know is what I’ve read.”

BRENDAN GAUGHAN (NO. 62 SOUTH POINT HOTEL & CASINO CHEVROLET IMPALA SS):

YOU’RE TECHNICALLY A LOS ANGELES NATIVE AND HAVE ALWAYS SEEMED TO ENJOY SUCCESS AT AUTO CLUB; WHAT’S YOUR OUTLOOK FOR SATURDAY?

• “Yeah, I was born in Los Angeles, so although I didn’t stay there long, maybe there’s some kind of good karma or something…I don’t know. Seriously, it’s just one of those tracks that I really enjoy; kind of like Texas. Like Texas, it’s really fast and you can definitely run the high side of the racetrack; I can guarantee that you’ll see our No. 62 Impala right up against the wall at some point on Saturday.”

THE NUMBERS:

RWR AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY:

Owner, Rusty Wallace

• As a car owner, Rusty Wallace owns four top-ten Nationwdie Series finishes at Auto Club Speedway. His most recent top-ten effort came in the fall 2008 event, with driver, David Stremme and the Dale Ferguson-led No. 64 team.
• In the modern era of Rusty Wallace Racing, the team’s first overall laps led came in the 2004 edition of this event, when Billy “Catfish” Parker led five laps.
• RWR’s best finish at Auto Club Speedway is a pair of fifth-place efforts by driver Jamie McMurray, coming in the fall 2004 and spring 2006 events.
• As a driver, Wallace owns six top-ten finishes in 11 Sprint Cup Series starts at Auto Club, including a victory in the 2001 event.

Driver, Steve Wallace

• Wallace’s best Auto Club effort of 15th came in last year’s edition of this event. During that race, he ran as high as third position and was in the top-15 for 98 laps en route to a lead-lap top-15 effort.
• Steve Wallace’s best Auto Club start came in the spring 2007 event, in which he qualified his No. 66 machine in the eighth position.

Driver, Brendan Gaughan

• Prior to 2009, Gaughan’s only career Nationwide Series start came in the spring 2001 event at Auto Club, in which he competed for a “start and park” effort.
• Gaughan’s Auto Club record includes a fifth-place start and sixth-place finish in the spring 2004 Sprint Cup Series event, while driving for Penske Racing.
• In Truck Series competition at Auto Club, Gaughan owns a pair of top-five and top-ten finishes, with a best effort of second in 2003, after starting from the pole.

THE VEHICLES:

TEAM 66: STEVE WALLACE:

Primary Chassis: RWR-022

• One of Steve Wallace’s favorite chassis, the 22 car returns to the 66 team after spending 2008 being designated for the No. 64 team and David Stremme.
• The 22 car was Stremme’s workhorse intermediate car in 2008 and raced in both California events, including a top-ten effort in the fall race.
• It scored a total of four top-ten and two top-five finishes in 2008, including a runner-up effort at Nashville. The 22 car also had top-five starts at Michigan—Auto Club’s sister track—and Kentucky.
• The 22 car won the pole for the second Nashville event in 2007, with Steve Wallace aboard. It also provided perhaps Wallace’s nearest miss for victory to date, at Kentucky in 2007, where late race contact with then-leader Carl Edwards ended both drivers’ chances for victory.

TEAM 62: BRENDAN GAUGHAN:

Primary Chassis: RWR-020

• A car assigned to Steve Wallace for the 2008 season, the 20 car was raced by Wallace at Charlotte I, Chicagoland, Michigan and California II.