Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Gaughan aims to be force again in Winston West

Friday, Dec. 1, 2000 | 10:59 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

Things went so well this year for Brendan Gaughan that the Las Vegas native found it difficult to get too upset when he received a bit of bad news.

Gaughan, 25, had planned to run the entire NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule next season after winning the NASCAR Winston West championship this year. But NAPA Auto Parts, which sponsors Gaughan's Winston West car and the truck he drove in five races this season, put the bulk of its sponsorship dollars into Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s Winston Cup entry next year for driver Michael Waltrip.

"We wanted to run the full truck series next year, and that was the plan from the get-go, but sometimes things happen," Gaughan said. "NAPA went with a Cup team and that kind of hurt us for trucks.

"NAPA's still with us; they're taking good care of us next year, just not enough to run the truck full time. But, this may work out for the best ... sometimes a grey cloud can have a silver lining."

Instead of moving up to the truck series, Gaughan will return to the Winston West Series in 2001 -- with a vengeance.

If winning two races, finishing in the top 10 in 11 of 12 starts and winning the championship weren't dominating enough, Gaughan said his goal next year is to let people know his Orleans Racing team is a force to be reckoned with.

"The goal next year is not just to repeat, it's to dominate -- that's going to be the word for 2001 for us," he said. "We want to show everyone that we're very strong still and that we can do it back-to-back.

"We feel we have the team, the shop ... all the components to do it. Just in case there was any question, we want to prove that (this year) was not a fluke."

Along with returning to the Winston West Series, Gaughan said his plans for 2001 include another five truck series races, a pair of ARCA races, two Winston Cup events (at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Sears Point Raceway) and the NASCAR Busch Series race at LVMS.

In addition to his Winston West championship, Gaughan had several strong runs in his limited truck series schedule, finishing in the top 15 in three of his five starts. He finished ninth in his lone ARCA start and his family business, Coast Resorts, continues to flourish in Las Vegas.

"Christmas came early and often for me this year," Gaughan said. "I'm very blessed and always have been."

"We want Tom & Jerry Racing to be a stepping stone for young drivers looking for opportunities to move into NASCAR," Nadeau said.

"Tony is a good friend and a great driver. We expect him to spend a year in the car and then move to the next level. After that, we expect to keep the team in place as a way to groom other drivers looking to step up."

Nadeau joins fellow Winston Cup driver Tony Stewart as a team owner in another racing series. Stewart earlier this month announced the formation of his own World of Outlaws team with driver Danny Lasoski.

"This should put an end to these erroneous reports that the Texas 600K was in jeopardy of being canceled or moved to our road course," TMS general manager Eddie Gossage said.

Although LVMS will not host the IRL next year, Treadway Racing used the 1.5-mile oval to prepare for similar tracks on which the series will compete in 2001.

Rick Treadway, son of team owner Fred Treadway, shared the track with Calkins to gain valuable seat time as he prepares to take his IRL rookie exam later this month.

Treadway Racing won the 1997 Indianapolis 500 with driver Arie Luyendyk and the 1999 Vegas.com 500 at LVMS with driver Sam Schmidt.

Rhoades moves from the Federal-Mogul Super Gas ranks while Greco ran as an independent in Pro Stock Truck this season.

The Winston West season finale, the Home Depot 300 from Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, will be broadcast Saturday night from 6-7:30 on the Speedvision cable channel. The race, in which Las Vegas' Brendan Gaughan clinched the series championship, was taped Nov. 11.