NASCAR won’t bust Gaughan for betting

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 10:06 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR will not punish Nextel Cup rookie driver Brendan Gaughan over a recent article in which he was quoted as saying he placed a bet on himself in Las Vegas to win Sunday's Daytona 500.

The article, which was published in Wednesday's edition of USA Today, quoted Gaughan discussing wagering on NASCAR races. The article went on to mention Pete Rose's banishment from Major League Baseball for betting on baseball and several other gambling-related scandals in sports.

Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications, was quoted in the article as saying, "you can rest assured that NASCAR officials will have a conversation with Mr. Gaughan."

Hunter on Thursday downplayed the controversy and said he had personally talked to Gaughan about the article.

"It's no big deal," Hunter said. "If the media wants to write about NASCAR and talk about Pete Rose in baseball, points shaving in basketball -- all those things -- (I asked him) to be sensitive to the issue."

Gaughan, 28, is the son of Las Vegas casino magnate Michael Gaughan.

"I know (the Gaughan family owns) several resort-casinos," Hunter said. "We're not trying to legislate people's morals; we just want (our drivers) to be sensitive to it. And he's fine with it. He's not in any trouble."

Wagering on NASCAR races has been available in some Las Vegas sports books since before the sanctioning body granted the Las Vegas Motor Speedway a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) race in 1998.

Hunter said NASCAR does not have a rule prohibiting drivers from betting on themselves.

"Right now, we don't have any rule that says (our drivers) can't gamble. We don't have any rule that legislates what they do away from the racetrack," Hunter said.

"It's not that we're for or against gambling -- if it's legal, it's legal -- but I would much rather they not (gamble on NASCAR races) because if they are doing it, it muddies the water."

Gaughan, who finished eighth Thursday in the first of two 125-mile qualifying races and will start 17th in Sunday's Daytona 500, declined to comment on the matter Thursday afternoon.

Hunter said that he considered the matter closed.

"He's refreshing, he's opinionated, he's confident -- and if you're not confident, you can't be a good race driver and we don't want to knock the wind out of his sails," Hunter said of Gaughan. "We just want him to be sensitive to the issue."

The annual NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is March 7.