by Colleen Marie Lynch

An official announcement was made Thursday, December 9th that Brendan Gaughan would not be returning to the Penske Kodak 77 next season. Brendan said, “The decision was more theirs than mine. It’s their team, and if they didn’t want me there, I didn’t want to be there. I’m happy to be where I am now. I beat Brian Vickers in the Rookie of the Year chase this season, but you never heard anything about him being replaced. There were no rumblings coming out of Hendrick Motorsports. You need to know you have the support of your team.”

Gaughan still has many other options available to him. “Steve Park will run the full season in the #62 Orleans Dodge, and I will be in a second truck – the #61 – in a bunch of truck races, maybe even the full schedule. Rusty Wallace has also asked me to run his Busch car in a handful of races that Jeremy (Mayfield) and Jamie (McMurray) don’t run. That’s not official yet, but the offer is there.”

Brendan also said that a major sponsorship announcement for himself and Steve Park should come soon.