COCA-COLA 600
FACTS-IN-A-FLASH
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MAY 30, 2004

Gaughan is Still Confident His 1.5-mile Track Success Will Carry Over at LMS: Gaughan, along with four other drivers, exited the event last weekend before it started. Despite his quick exit last week, Gaughan contends that his previous success on tracks modeled after the Concord, N.C,.-based track will help him through the 600-mile event.

“All I can say is I hope I got the bad luck out of the way last week,” Gaughan said. “Seriously, I know that Lowe’s Motor Speedway fits my driving style. I also know the Kodak Racing Team will see to it that I have a competitive car. We are looking to improve each week, and right now, I have a sixth-place finish logged as my best 2004 finish. That is not good enough. If there is a 1.5-mile track, I can find my way around it. The challenge now is to prove it.”

Things You Should Know About Gaughan:
- He was on the high school bowling team – Gaughan claims a 170 game in high school.
- He is an avid Harry Potter fan – While babysitting for his niece, Emily, she refused to go to bed until she had watched Harry Potter. Gaughan relented and has been”‘addicted” ever since.
- Gaughan was a guest at the newest Potter movie premier, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, on Sunday, May 23.
- Gaughan reads and re-reads the Potter books, because he finds them intriguing.
- Gaughan claims to have no superstitions, yet he wears the same shirt under his firesuit every week - Gaughan wears his Georgetown Hoyas basketball practice jersey, No.13, during practice and until recently, during the race. Prior to his release in March, Coach Craig Esherick had a special numbered jersey made for Gaughan, No.77, which Gaughan wears under his suit on race day.
- Upon receiving notice from Penske-Jasper Racing that there was an empty driver’s seat fitted just for him, Gaughan announced to his friends in Las Vegas that he planned to move to North Carolina. Gaughan’s best friend since kindergarten, John Kaufman, a.k.a.” Cheezburger”, turned in his notice to his employer, Southern Highland Golf Club where he was a golf-pro, to move east with Gaughan to offer support. “Cheezburger” drives Gaughan’s motorhome and plays golf whenever he has the opportunity.

Penske-Jasper Team Member is Attempting to Make the Coca-Cola 600: Jeff Fultz, a full-time Penske-Jasper Racing team member, will attempt to make the Coca-Cola 600 at LMS. Fultz competes regularly in the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division, Southeast Series. He is currently third in driver’s points in that series, 95 points behind the leader. Fultz wrapped up the 2002 Southeast tour second in points and he was the series champion in 2002.

Equipment: The No. 77 Penske-Jasper Racing team is taking chassis No.31 to Lowe’s Motor Speedway. No. 31 is the same car Gaughan raced at California Speedway earlier this year (Start 5th/Finish 6th), as well as Texas (Start 16th/Finish 38th). At Texas Motor Speedway, Gaughan was running in the 15th position when he felt something “let go.” After looking the car over, the No. 77 Kodak Racing team found the timing belt had broken. Ironically, a track where Gaughan had logged four consecutive victories in NASCAR’s Truck Series, is also the only track Gaughan has a DNF in the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season.

from Jasper