Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Gaughan 11th in Virginia, but truckin’ toward title

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2003 | 9:28 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 made the most of his 11th-place finish Saturday at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.

In what could have been a disastrous blow to his NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series championship hopes, Gaughan instead gained 15 points on his closest pursuer, Travis Kvapil, in the standings. Kvapil finished 16th and Ted Musgrave, who is third in points, finished only one spot better than Gaughan and gained four points on the Las Vegas native.

With two races remaining in the season, Gaughan leads Kvapil by 45 points and Musgrave by 69 points. Dennis Setzer, who took third Saturday, is 72 points out of the lead.

"I wish we could have had a top-10 (finish) to keep that streak going, but it was a good run," Gaughan said of the last short-track race of the season. "We've got two left and we've still got the lead."

Gaughan also has plenty of confidence going into the final two races -- Oct. 31 at Phoenix International Raceway and Nov. 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"We've been to Phoenix a ton, which is nice," said Gaughan, who has three 13th-place finishes at PIR. "We've never really run great at Phoenix but we know the track really well. We've had mechanical issues (there), which is why we haven't run great.

"We're going to go back this year and make sure we don't have any of those mechanical issues and we should be pretty good."

Gaughan said he is excited about the season finale at the Homestead track, which recently underwent a redesign that added additional banking to the 1.5-mile oval. Gaughan has been strong at 1.5-mile tracks -- especially those that are more steeply banked.

"Homestead now is not only a mile and a half, it's a mile and a half with 20-degree banking," Gaughan said. "It's an Orleans Racing-style oval. We definitely are looking at that as an opportunity to have a strong finish to the year."

Gaughan, who recently announced that he would return to the Truck Series next season with the Las Vegas-based Orleans Racing team, said last weekend that Dodge would like to enter him in at least two NASCAR Nextel Cup and two NASCAR Busch Series races next season. Although Gaughan did not say which Cup races he might run next season, it is believed he will attempt to qualify for the March 7 Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It marked the eighth race this season in which Busch failed to finish and his fourth DNF in the past five races. Last season, when he finished third in Winston Cup points, Busch had only four DNFs.

The Cannery Showdown will feature a 140-lap Super Late Models main event, a 199-lap Mechanix Wear Speed Trucks feature and a 40-lap main event for IMCA Modifieds.

Qualifying, heat races and C-main event features are scheduled for Friday while A-main and B-main features will be held Saturday. Grandstands open at 4:30 p.m. both days, qualifying begins at 5:15 Friday and racing starts at 5:30 Saturday.

Former NFL head coach Jerry Glanville will attempt to qualify for the March 7 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Black Cat Racing and sponsored by the National Rifle Association. ...Ward Burton will make his debut in the No. 0 Pontiac for Haas CNC Racing in Sunday's Winston Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Scott Wimmer will replace Burton in the No. 22 Dodge for the final four races of the season... NASCAR Busch Series points leader Brian Vickers will attempt to qualify for Sunday's Cup race in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Vickers is replacing Joe Nemechek in the car for the final four races of the season.