Driver: Brendan Gaughan

Owner: Michael Gaughan

Event: Las Vegas 350
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev.
Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 6:15 p.m. (PDT)
Qualifying: Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 3:00 p.m. (PDT)
1.5-mile oval, 219 miles/146 laps

Notes of Interest:

Armed with a brand new truck hometown favorite, Brendan Gaughan, is ready for action this week in Las Vegas. Given that this is Gaughan’s hometown he’s spent the week leading into the Las Vegas 350 playing host to fans and fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams. The extra activity is no sweat for Gaughan as he loves to show off his local digs to visitors from across the country.

This race is important to Gaughan, who wants to show that his Jasper Engines Dodge team is back in form for the high-speed tracks --- as well as give his local fans something to scream about!

Gaughan on the Las Vegas 350:

“We don’t even need to do a press release for the Orleans Team this week. It speaks for itself. In 2003 we had almost 70,000 people show up for the race and we went out and got the pole and spanked the field. Last year Steve Park had a good run. It’s always a good race for us. Our shop is right over turn one. All the stuff that the Speedway’s done for us over the years and all the great things the city oaf Las Vegas has done for our family we love to run there and give them the show that Las Vegas deserves.

“It’s a night race – which is always neat. We’re having an open house for the fans on Thursday (from noon to 3 pm). So I mean we try to take care of everybody, try to have fun, and try to enjoy ourselves.

“This is a race we mark every year and say this is THE race. It’s kind of like the Michigan / Ohio State games; if you win that game you keep your job. If we win Vegas we all get to keep our jobs and everybody is happy.”

How big would a win there be? – “The Jasper team has a brand new truck, truck No. 16 and Steve Park has a brand new truck, truck No. 17. We tested the other night and we’re coming with guns loaded. We’re going to try to do that (win). Whether it’s Steve or myself I want us both up there and hitting each other for the win. The ideal situation would be Elmo and Big Al fighting for the “W”. I think the crowd would go nuts.”

You sort of become an entertainment director this week. -- (laughing) – “It’s Vegas! Everybody thinks so many things about Vegas and I like the guys to come to Vegas and have a good time. Most of the teams end up staying at The Orleans, The Gold Coast or The Suncoast. We give great deals to the race teams that want to stay with us. My dad (Michael Gaughan) is a racer --- he just loves having racers around. The officials stay with us, three-quarters of the race teams I’d say stay with us. I like to show everybody a great time.”

Meet the Crew:

Name
Hometown
Shop Duties
Race Day Duties

Brendan Gaughan
Las Vegas, NV
General Manager
Driver

Tony Liberati
Bellaire, OH
Crew Chief
Crew Chief

Lance Wilson
Bakersfield, CA
Truck Chief
Rear Tire Changer

Roy Pryor
Las Vegas, NV
Mechanic
Front Tire Changer

Chris Boller
Prescott, AZ
Truck Driver
Front Tire Carrier

Calvin Gravely
Martinsville, VA
Tire Specialist
Jackman

Scott Witz
Tucson, AZ
Fabricator
Gas Man

Mike Robinson
Toole, UT
Mechanic
Catch Can

Clint Jennings
Logan, OH
Engineer
Engineer

Randy Snyder
Buena Park, CA
Truck Driver
Chef

Listen in on the #77: The team’s primary radio frequency is 451.3375.