Gaughan Ready To Turn the Tide at MIS

Driver: Brendan Gaughan
Owner: Michael Gaughan
Con-Way Freight 200
Michigan International Speedway
Race: Saturday, June 17 – 3:00 pm (EDT)
Qualifying: Saturday, June 17 – 10:40 am (EDT)
2.0 -mile oval, 200 miles/ 100 laps

Notes of Interest:

Military Appreciation Program (MAP):

This week one of the Army’s oldest divisions, the 82nd Airborne, will take the lead in Orleans Racing’s Military Appreciation Program.

The 82nd Airborne Division has had its share of famous soldiers from Sergeant Alvin C. York to General James M. Gavin. But that's not what the 82nd is really about. The real story of the 82nd is the thousands of unnamed paratroopers in jump boots, baggy pants and maroon berets, who have always been ready and willing to jump into danger and then drive on until the mission was accomplished.

The 82nd has become so well known for its airborne accomplishments, that its proud World War I heritage is almost forgotten.

The 82nd Infantry Division was formed August 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Since members of the Division came from all 48 states, the unit was given the nickname "All-Americans," hence its famed "AA" shoulder patch.

More on the 82nd Airborne can be found at: http://www.bragg.army.mil/82dv/default.htm

The piece: Gaughan will drive Orleans Racing’s T21

Gaughan on Michigan: "I like Michigan a lot. It has what I've always called the Michigan Merge where you drive in behind somebody and then you peel off two hundred feet apart with one guy in the top groove and one guy on the bottom and then you come right back together on the race track from being so far apart that the spotter says, 'Well, he's down there but I don't know if you're clear or not' because you can't tell.

"I remember in 2003 when I won, I followed Robert Pressley there. Robert's always had good runs there and Robert was on the bottom and, go figure, I was on the top and I told my spotter, Billy Holbrook, that I wouldn't stick my nose outside Robert's fender. We were starting somewhere mid-pack and I said, 'Hey, let's just hook up.' I promised him I wouldn't block him to the wall and that I would always give him the whole merge lane up to the wall so he didn't have to worry about it and let's go. Robert and I went right to the front of the field in 25 or 30 laps. We never had to worry about each other. We were both fast and it taught me a lot there. We had a great pit stop that day, beat him out of the pits and never saw him again. We were out front and passing everybody and it was awesome.