Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Brendan Gaughan to participate in goodwill tour

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 | 9:50 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.

Brendan Gaughan of Las Vegas will join fellow NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Rick Crawford and other NASCAR dignitaries for a goodwill tour next week in support of U.S. troops stationed overseas.

Gaughan, the 2002 NCTS Rookie of the Year, and Crawford will attend rallies at military installations in Germany, Bosnia, Sicily and England during the five-day tour scheduled to begin next Monday.

"This is an incredible honor," said Gaughan, who drives the No. 62 Orleans Racing Dodge. "Plus, it is a chance of a lifetime. (Rick and I) are both extremely honored and very excited about this opportunity."

NASCAR testing at LVMS

Winston Cup

Jeff Gordon Jan. 27-28

Jimmie Johnson Jan. 27-28

Joe Nemechek Jan. 27-28

Jeremy Mayfield Jan. 27-28

Greg Biffle Jan. 27-28

Kurt Busch Jan. 27-28

Ward Burton Jan. 27-28

Ken Schrader Jan. 27-28

Steve Park Jan. 27-28

Johnny Benson Jan. 27-28

John Andretti Jan. 28-29

Casey Mears Jan. 28-29

Jamie McMurray Jan. 28-29

Bobby Labonte Jan. 28-29

Tony Stewart Jan. 28-29

Tony Raines Jan. 29-30

Jerry Nadeau Jan. 29-30

Brandon Ash Jan. 29-30

Jimmy Spencer Jan. 29-30

Ted Musgrave Jan. 29-30

Kenny Wallace Jan. 29-30

Jack Sprague TBA

Mike Skinner TBA

Todd Bodine TBA

Busch Series

Stanton Barrett Jan. 27-28

Mile High Racing Jan. 27-28

Kevin Grubb Jan. 27-28

Bobby Hamilton Jr. Jan. 27-28

Scott Lynch Jan. 27-28

Michael Waltrip Jan. 28-29

Jeff Burton Jan. 28-29

Scott Riggs Jan. 28-29

Kevin Harvick Jan. 28-29

Coy Gibbs Jan. 28-29

Mike Bliss Jan. 28-29

Mark Green Jan. 28-29

Joe Nemechek Jan. 29-30

Damon Lusk Jan. 29-30

Ashton Lewis Jan. 29-30

Herzog-Jackson Jan. 29-30

Stacy Compton Jan. 29-30

Eddie McKean Jan. 30

NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and Lowe's Motor Speedway president and general manager H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler also are scheduled to take part in the "Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve NASCAR Overseas Tour."

Mike Wallace, who was clocked at 184.053 mph during the first session Jan. 7-9, turned in the the fastest speed during six days of testing at Daytona.

At least 24 Winston Cup and 18 Busch Series drivers are expected to take part in a four-day open test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway next week.

Woods Brothers Racing finished second in last year's Daytona 500 with Elliott Sadler -- who started the race from the 41st position.

"If you look at the history of qualifying for the Wood Brothers, it hasn't been one of their strong suits at Daytona," Rudd said. "They put a lot of effort in the race results and tend to sometimes sacrifice qualifying. That's a smart thing to do.

"If I had a choice of qualifying good and run poorly in the race or qualify poorly and run good in the race, I'd rather have it that way and that's sort of the way they work."