Gaughan Ready For First Short Track Event of '06 NCTS Season

Driver: Brendan Gaughan
Owner: Michael Gaughan
Event: Kroger 250
Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
Race: Saturday, April 1st, 2006 --- 3:15 pm (EST)
Qualifying: Saturday, April 1st, 2006 – 12:05 pm (EST)
0.526-mile oval, 131.25 miles/250 laps

Notes of Interest:

It’s an Honor….

It’s no secret that Brendan Gaughan is a fan of the round ball --- and that March is one of his favored times of year due to the NCAA tourneys. Gaughan will have a chance to share his passions when he’s named an honorary member of the winningest High School team in Virginia prior to the start of this Saturday’s Kroger 250.

Gaughan will share the pre-race spotlight with Martinsville High School “Bulldogs” basketball team, who just clinched their 13th state championship. The team will be on hand to give the command to start engines for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Race.

Prior to the start of the race Gaughan will receive a team shirt from the Bulldogs commemorating his honorary status then shoot some hoops with the state champs. Gaughan has a history with the team and has played hoops with them several times in the past at their school.

The piece: Gaughan will drive Orleans Racing’s T6.

The Stats: 2005 (NCTS) #1 DNQ: #2 start 35th finish 24th: 2004 (NNCS) #1 start 11th finish 17th: #2 start 14th finish 34th: 2003 (NCTS) #1 start 11th finish 16th #2 start 4th finish 11th: 2002 (NCTS) start 32nd finish 9th.

Gaughan on Martinsville:

“At Martinsville I give the guys such a hard time because I always say I hate Martinsville and I hate short tracks. But I definitely like Martinsville. It’s just one of those tough as nails short tracks. That’s the fun part. The fans get to see a great race there. The Orleans Racing team has struggled with getting our truck out of racetracks with all the body panels on it anyway. At Martinsville I don’t see that trend changing. We’re going to take truck No. 6 there, which I had a good top 10 going with last year. Near the end, I screwed up and we ended up back there in the twenties somewhere. (24th)”

“It’s just one of NASCAR’s most famous old short tracks. I was in that Cup Series race where the piece of concrete came up and Jeff Gordon hit it. Since then they’ve repaved it. It has two grooves. It’s a track that you can race on and pass on. You’ve got to do a little bumping and grinding here and there but this is the Craftsman Truck Series. Nobody minds that. Fortunately the Orleans Racing team moved up a bunch of spots last week and we look to move up a bunch more this week.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE PLACE THAT DRIVES YOU NUTS? – “For years, even when I was winning races in the West Series I’ve always said I hate short tracks. It’s just been one of my mantras. The guy who has been with me the longest Billy Holbrook, my spotter, our first race together was at Irwindale Speedway, a half-mile short track. I won three races in a row there. Mesa Marin was a tough little short track that used to be in Bakersfield, CA. For some reason my first race ever was on a big track, so I always just kind of said, ‘Wow, these short tracks suck.’ I’ve kept that mantra and I’ve won a lot with it. Martinsville itself I don’t dislike that much. It’s really nice and has a lot of grandstands. Fans definitely show up in droves for Martinsville. Usually we have a Darrell Waltrip trying to run with us and a bunch of the Cup guys try to run with us. That draws a lot more fans and we always end up putting on a pretty darn good race. It’s not that I really hate Martinsville. I’ve won a lot with the mantra ‘I hate short tracks’, so I’ve got to keep it.”

Listen in on the #77: The team’s primary radio frequency is 451.3371.