Brendan Gaughan Returns to Talladega Superspeedway: Gaughan hopes to show improvement for the Penske Racing South superspeedway program when he returns to Talladega.

“When Mr. [Roger] Penske and Mr. [Doug] Bawel joined forces at the beginning of the year, one of their joint commitments was to improve the superspeedway program for all three teams,” Gaughan said. “The guys working on that program feel pretty confident they have made improvements, it is just a matter of seeing where we are now so they can start working on the 2005 program.”

“Ideally, I would like to have a car as strong as a DEI car when we unload. It is no secret they have the strongest superspeedway program right now. I think they raised the bar and now most teams are following suit to concentrate on the big tracks.”

Shane Wilson on the Penske Racing Superspeedway Program:

“We are confident in our superspeedway program because of the improvements they have made so far this year,” said Wilson. “We felt like we had a good car when we tested at Daytona back in January, but the guys went to work and improved on the car some more. Then we went to Talladega and posted a 13th- place finish. I think this team is capable of a top-10 finish at Talladega, only I would like a Daytona-type qualifying effort.”

Gaughan qualified his No. 77 Kodak EasyShare Dodge 12th for the July race at Daytona International Speedway. Gaughan experienced tight handling conditions from the start of the race but became tangled with Mike Wallace after Wallace’s machine cut a tire and hit the wall. Gaughan was drafting with Wallace on the lead lap at the time and had nowhere to go. After minor repairs in the pits under yellow flag conditions, Gaughan was set to head back onto the track, but was unable to put the car in gear. Gaughan’s Dodge was pushed behind the wall and the gear was replaced. Gaughan finished 24 laps down because of the melee.

Gaughan on Slipping to 32nd in Drivers’ Points:

“Well, it sucks,” Gaughan said. “If someone had told me back in January that we would be 32nd in the points with nine races to go, I would never have believed it,” Gaughan said. “We have struggled this year it’s been no secret, but I thought after finishing sixth at California in April we were about to turn the corner. I was wrong and that is hard to admit.”

Team Test Session: The Kodak Racing team is testing at Kansas Speedway Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 28-29. The primary focus is to shake down PRS-80, a new Penske chassis built for the No. 77 team.

Equipment: Gaughan will race chassis PJR-30 at Talladega Superspeedway. PJR-30 is the same chassis Gaughan raced at both Daytona races (Feb.- St.17th/Fin. 19th & Jul. - St.12th/Fin. 36th) as well as the spring Talladega event (St. 20th/Fin. 13th).

Gaughan’s Talladega Superspeedway Statistics:

Date St. Fin. LC/LT (%) Status $ Won
25-Apr-04 20th 13th 188/188 (100%) Running $ 89,015

from Jasper