Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Gaughan trucks into tough old Darlington

Friday, March 15, 2002 | 10:51 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

The first three races of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season pose a challenge for Rookie of the Year candidate Brendan Gaughan.

The 26-year-old Las Vegas resident had not raced at Daytona International Speedway prior to last month's season opener and his trips to Darlington Raceway today and Martinsville Speedway next month also will be his first racing experience at those tracks.

His lack of experience, however, hasn't tempered his confidence heading into today's Craftsman Anniversary 200 on the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped Darlington oval, where Gaughan will start 16th in the 36-truck field.

"Darlington is kind of an odd track but we believe we have the equipment to go win it," said Gaughan, who finished 13th at Daytona. "Darlington is supposed to be scary, but at least I get to drive it. It's more comfortable than (driving) at Daytona, where it's not in my hands.

"At least at Darlington, it's not just holding on and hanging in for the ride, like Daytona -- it's me driving it and I like that."

Gaughan also has left nothing to chance in his preparation for Darlington, dubbed the track "Too Tough to Tame." He even has enlisted the help of longtime friend Jimmie Johnson, a Winston Cup rookie, and Johnson's team owner, four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, as he prepared for the race.

"I've been pulling every resource I've got trying to get as much information as I can," Gaughan said.

Gaughan, who started his racing career in various off-road series, has raced against Johnson for years. He met Gordon through Johnson when the two were testing their Winston Cup cars at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in January.

"I hung out with Jimmie and Jeff and Chad Knaus, Jimmie's crew chief, for a couple nights when they had that big test out here," Gaughan said. "I was never not a Jeff Gordon fan ... but after meeting him, I'm a Jeff Gordon fan now; he's a pretty cool guy.

"If you can get coaching from somebody, who are you going to go to? If I was going to go back and play basketball, I'm going to call coach (John) Thompson; I'm not going to call Bill Bayno. If I can get the ear of the man, hey, I'm going to use every resource I've got and being able to get a hold of Jeff is going to help me a lot."

"It's going to be great," Park said of his return to the track where he suffered the injury. "I know I got hurt there but just going back to test, I felt good. Everybody wanted to know how I felt going through Turn Two and it felt great."

Rahal/Letterman Racing also announced that Vasser would compete in the March 24 Indy Racing League event at California Speedway.

"I have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and there isn't another event like it in the world," Vasser said. "The chance to race at Indy and represent not only a great company like Miller Brewing but a great team like Rahal/Letterman Racing is an honor. I think Bobby and Dave have assembled the elements to be successful this May."

Miller Lite will sponsor Vasser's No. 19 Dallara/Chevrolet at Indy.

Pittman, who won his first WoO race Feb. 23 in Perris, Calif., was injured when he flipped during time trials at the new track.