Local drivers struggling to crack auto racing’s major leagues

Thursday, Aug. 27, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

There are two certainties -- perhaps the only two -- in auto racing: It takes money to reach the sport's highest levels, and all the money in the world won't guarantee success once a driver gets there.

These two beliefs have been among the first learned by a local trio of talented young drivers who aspire to reach the major leagues of auto racing.

Although they come from diverse backgrounds, open-wheel racers Shane Donley and Jeff Shafer and race truck driver Brendan Gaughan each have come to the conclusion that it takes more than an ability to drive a vehicle fast to reach the big time.

"Honestly, there are a million guys out there with talent to drive a race car," Donley, a 26-year-old Barber Dodge Pro Series driver who aspires to drive in the CART FedEx Championship Series, said. "There are about a half a million guys out there who have the talent to drive it and look appropriate and make it in the corporate world.

"As you keep going down, the numbers get lower and lower and lower until you get to the small percentile of people who can drive a race car fast -- and that actually becomes optional -- that have marketing skills, that are presentable and can raise money. When you get right down to it, if you can raise money, you can go racing."

Gaughan, the son of Las Vegas hotel and casino magnate Michael Gaughan, is in a unique position in that he is not hurting for financial backing.

Although his father has supported him throughout his racing career, the 23-year-old Las Vegas native wants that to change as he works toward a potential career in NASCAR's Winston Cup Racing Series.

"Racing is a very tough game," Gaughan, who is racing off-road trucks in the midwest CORR Series, said. "Fortunately, for me, I come from a very lucky background with my father and I have been fortunate enough to be able to drive a lot of things that wouldn't normally be available to somebody with as little talent as I have right now.

"(Having money) has helped, but having the opportunity to drive good equipment and having a great team behind me does not guarantee success; it takes a lot of ability. I have had a lot of really good teachers and I have shown some ability so that's why we're still moving up.

Gaughan said every racer seeks to be financially independent.

"(But) I don't want my dad to pay for this," he said. "He has taken care of me through all these off-road races and this (short-track) stuff, but I'm tried of him paying the bill. I have shown that I have enough talent that I don't need him to pay for it anymore and I'd really like to be able to get another sponsor."

While Gaughan is approaching potential sponsors in his bid to drive a full NASCAR Winston West and part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule next year, the 23-year-old Shafer said the financial aspects of racing may eventually snuff his dreams of driving in CART or Formula One.

"Breaking into (big-time racing) is harder than I thought it was, but not the actual driving -- it's all the off-track stuff," Shafer, who is wrapping up a partial season in the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship Series, said.

"There are a lot of guys out there who don't have any talent but they're really good with the phone, they're really good with meeting people and being in the right place at the right time and it has given them the opportunity to go out there and drive."

Shafer got his big break when he was one of two winners of the inaugural Team Green Academy Young American Driver Development Program at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Part of the instruction the Academy attendees receive during the intensive program is how to meet and interact with Corporate America (i.e., potential sponsors).

"I'm not good at meeting people and shaking hands and going up to somebody I don't know, cold turkey, and saying, 'How are you doing, I'm Jeff Schafer,' and that could someday be my downfall," Shafer said. "That's also what's saving a lot of people out there; they're not getting good track performances, it's being really good about meeting people.

"You squeeze all the money you can out of this (sponsor) and then you go on to somebody else. I can't do that, it's not a comfortable thing for me to do."

Shafer took a unique route last season when he raced in the Barber Dodge 2-litre series by selling shares in his racing future in exchange for the $40,000 he needed to go racing.

"When I decided to take the step up to run the cars, I didn't have enough money," Shafer said. "What I did was I sold percentages of my racing future.

"I said, 'For the next five years, you can have this percent of the money I win racing cars if you give me this much now.' I sold enough of those to get me through this season, so I raised somewhere around $40,000 without giving up too much of my future."

Money alone won't assure a rapid rise to the upper echelons of racing, to which all three Las Vegans will attest. The other key, they agreed, was to surround yourself with people who can open the necessary doors to that future.

Donley and Shafer both work with former open-wheel racer Derek Daly at his Las Vegas Motor Speedway driving school. Gaughan has been driving for off-road legend Walker Evans for the past eight years and also works closely with former Las Vegas short-track champion Dick Cobb.

"I wouldn't be where I am without all the help I have gotten," Gaughan said. "Rob MacCachren used to ride in a race car with me and everyone knows he is one of the best drivers to come out of Las Vegas, ever.

"He and Walker Evans are two of the best off-road racers in the world and to be able to work with them and learn from them is a huge asset. Also, Dick Cobb has been teaching me a lot; has has been teaching me all the pavement stuff I need to learn."

Shafer said his association with the Team Green Academy has presented him and Shafer with opportunities that might not otherwise have become available.

"It's really all about being in the right place at the right time or just showing well on the right day," Shafer said. "I won the Team Green Academy and they put me through a Formula 2000 season last season.

"Through all of that, that's basically brought me from racing go-karts to big-time racing. They took us to all the races and we got to hang out with Indy Car drivers. Always being there, being in the loop with all those people, is what's going to get you in."

archive