Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Texas Speedway suits Gaughan’s style

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002 | 9:30 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 results weren't always pretty, but Brendan Gaughan used his four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as hands-on learning experiences.

That on-the-job training from 1997 to 2001 prepared the native Las Vegan for his first full season in the NCTS and has paid off in two wins at Texas Motor Speedway in his rookie season.

Gaughan, 27, became the first repeat winner at TMS and the first driver to sweep both races in a season there when he took the checkered flag in Friday's Silverado 350.

"The track fits my driving style," Gaughan said of the Fort Worth facility, which, like LVMS, is a 1.5-mile oval. "I started up on the speedways like at Las Vegas so I've always liked the big tracks."

Gaughan said his other advantage at Texas was having Dodge power in his NAPA Auto Parts truck.

"The main thing that makes us do so well (at Texas) is Dodge," he said. "This is why they signed us up; they felt we would be an asset to their program and we knew they would be an asset to be with because of the wind tunnel time they give us and the amount of engineering help they give us.

"That's the difference with Dodge. That's why a privateer team like us is able to come in here and start winning."

Gaughan was the recipient of some good fortune in Friday's race when race leader Ted Musgrave hit some oil on the track and spun out during a caution period with 14 laps remaining.

"It would have been a fun shootout with Ted and I in the end, but I think that we would have been able to pull through in the end anyhow (because) we had great power," Gaughan said.

Fukuyama, who has financial backing from several Japanese businessmen, will drive the No. 66 Ford owned by Travis Carter.

Sterling Marlin, who finished 21st, fell out of the top spot for the first time since the second race of the season. Marlin, who trails Martin by six points, has lost 101 points in the last three races.

The 67 points that separate the top five drivers in the standings is the closest margin with nine races remaining since the current points system was implemented in 1975.

Thane Alderman (NASCAR Late Models), Glenn Burke (NASCAR Outlaw Stocks), David Anderson (Legends Cars), Andrew Murphy (Bandolero Cars) and Stoney Gray (Thunder Roadsters).