Penske Figures Gaughan Is a Good Bet

By SHAV GLICK

March 5, 2004 12 AM PT

Las Vegas, better known for casinos, bright lights and Andre Agassi, would seem an unlikely incubator for NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car drivers. Yet, in Sunday’s UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, three of the 43 starters will be home-grown.

Brendan Gaughan and the Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, grew up in the Nevada gambling capital and still call it home.

Surprisingly, the paths of Gaughan and the Busch boys did not cross until they reached NASCAR’s higher echelons. The Busch brothers, whose father had driven earlier at Craig Speedway, were weaned on stock cars. Gaughan learned his trade in the desert, racing trucks. Gaughan was 15 when, driving a dune buggy, he won the first race he ever entered, an off-road adventure in the desert. That caught the attention of legendary truck driver Walker Evans, who signed the precocious teenager to drive his Dodge trucks.

Thirteen years later, Gaughan is still driving a Dodge, but in a different environment and for another high-profile team owner.

Son of a Las Vegas casino owner, the gregarious Gaughan was selected by Roger Penske to drive one of Penske’s three Dodge Intrepids in the Nextel Cup series as a rookie teammate of Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace.

“I can’t answer why I was chosen, but I can darn sure tell you that when I got the phone call and Roger said, ‘Would you?’ it didn’t take me long to make up my mind,” Gaughan said.

After winning two Winston West championships for Orleans Racing, a team formed by his father, Michael, and Bill McAnally, Gaughan joined the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series in 2002 and was rookie of the year. Last year, he led the series for eight weeks heading into the final race, where he was caught in an accident. His 29th-place finish dropped him to fourth place.

“We didn’t win the championship, but I kicked some butt,” Gaughan said. “I guess that and the fact I’ve been a Dodge guy all my life helped me attract some attention.”

Gaughan won a series-high six races and was voted most popular driver.

“I’ve tried, over the years, to take young people, people who maybe haven’t gotten to the top, and give them a chance and see these folks really blossom,” Penske said.

“Since Newman, a lot of the teams are starting to dig a little deeper [for young drivers]. I think it’s evolution. What we look for is, No. 1, have you been a winner? No. 2, what are your people skills? And No. 3, can you communicate from a technical basis?”

Newman was plucked by Penske two years ago, after Newman had won U.S. Auto Club Silver Crown and midget car titles. Last year, he won eight races and 11 poles and was named American driver of the year.

“Roger has already done me some great favors,” Gaughan said. “He gave me Buddy Baker as a coach and he gave me Bill Wilburn, Rusty Wallace’s old crew chief. Buddy is a legend in NASCAR and he really helps me with qualifying by telling me how to build my speed, to find the correct line and keep the pedal down for a good lap.”

Besides having Wilburn on his team, Gaughan brought along Shane Wilson, his crew chief from Orleans Racing days.

“You’ve got to have guys that have big hearts for you,” he said. “I don’t believe that changes whether you are in the truck series or the Nextel Cup. Shane is the same smart crew chief who knows how to handle his driver. We have that chemistry, which is what Mr. Penske wanted.”

Billy Holbrook, his race-day spotter, is the Orleans casino’s purchasing director.

Gaughan has set four goals this season:

* To become the Nextel Cup rookie of the year.

* To be among the top 10 in the chase for the championship over the final 10 races.

* To bring the Jasper team, which merged with Penske’s to form Penske-Jasper Racing, its first victory since it was organized in 1989.

* To return sponsor Kodak to the winner’s circle. Kodak sponsored Ernie Irvan’s car when he won the Daytona 500 in 1991, then won again in 1995 and ’96 with Sterling Marlin.

Unlike most young drivers, both Gaughan and Newman are college graduates. Gaughan went to Georgetown, Newman Purdue.

At Georgetown, the 5-foot-9 Gaughan played basketball, being used primarily in practice when Coach John Thompson had him guarding future NBA star Allen Iverson.

“My job was to goad Allen and make him mad,” Gaughan said with a smile. “Coach kept yelling at me to get meaner, to treat him like he was the enemy. After a year or two of that, I felt like I was ready for anything. Even a three-wide draft at Daytona.”

One thing Gaughan, 28, says he is not ready for is a back flip after his first Nextel Cup win.

“I did it at Irwindale after my first stock car win, but I’m too old for that now,” he said.

Formula One

What could be a contentious Formula One season will open Sunday, Saturday night here, with the Australian Grand Prix on Melbourne’s Albert Park street circuit.

Juan Pablo Montoya, one of the series favorites, is driving as a lame duck for the Williams team. The 28-year-old Colombian, before the 2004 season even began, signed a contract with McLaren to drive in 2005 as a teammate of Kimi Raikkonen, the young Finn being heralded as most likely to knock Michael Shumacher and Ferrari off the championship podium.

Raikkonen won the Australian GP last year, notching his first victory after replacing former world champion Mika Hakkinen in the McLaren car.

How the Williams crew responds to the explosive Montoya, who Thursday stormed out of a news conference after being annoyed by a questioner, will be interesting. Montoya had previously hinted that the team worked harder for teammate Ralf Schumacher, the champion’s brother. Now the crew will have good reason to.

With European countries continuing to close doors to F1 because of its heavy dependence on tobacco advertising, the Grand Prix circuit this year will go to Bahrain and Shanghai in China.

Rules changes include limiting drivers to a single engine for the entire weekend, banning launch control and a revised qualifying procedure that eliminates Friday qualifying.

Opening Nights

The new Valvoline USAC/CRA sprint car series will make its debut Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway with a mixture of former Sprint Car Racing Assn. and USAC drivers in the field.

Cory Kruseman, former SCRA champion and recent winner of the prestigious Chili Bowl midget race, will be joined by Tony Elliott, Bud Kaeding and Jon Stanbrough from USAC.

Rip Williams, starting his 27th year as a sprint car driver, will be one of the favorites in Jack Jory’s Stinger. Williams ran his first USAC main event in 1985 at Ascot Park, finishing second. Williams claims 97 wins in his long career, including a 50-lapper last September at Perris.

Ventura Raceway will open its season Saturday night with a mixture of VRA sprint cars, VRA modifieds, dwarf cars and pony stocks at 5 p.m. on the seaside oval.

Drag Racing

After needing two weeks to complete the season-opening Winternationals at Pomona, the National Hot Rod Assn. will hope for a better break in the weather this weekend in Phoenix for the Checker Schuck’s Kragen Nationals at Firebird Raceway.

Don Prudhomme, whose team was shut out last week, needs four more wins to reach the 100 mark as a driver and owner. The Snake will have Larry Dixon, last year’s series champion, in top fuel and Ron Capps and Tommy Johnson Jr. in new Chevrolet Monte Carlo funny cars.

Hot rod enthusiasts will have to choose next weekend between the NHRA Summit series for sports compacts at California Dragway and the Goodguys March Meet Madness for vintage dragsters at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield.

The Summit series will be the first NHRA-sanctioned event on the California Speedway’s drag strip. The March Meet is an event heralding the glory days of front-engined dragsters. Only pre-1972 vehicles are eligible.

Last Laps

Drivers and cars competing in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach next month will be showcased Tuesday night at a Champ Car Fan Festival at the Long Beach Arena. The 5-8 p.m. event will include an autograph session, historic car display and pit-stop demonstrations.

Irwindale Speedway will introduce a new series for full-size 1965-1987 domestic sedans April 2. No modifications, except for safety equipment, will be permitted. The sedans will race on alternate Friday nights.

This Week

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

* When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (Fox, 11:30 a.m.).

* Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (tri-oval 1.5 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns).

* Race distance: 400 miles, 267 laps.

* 2003 winner: Matt Kenseth.

* Next race: Golden Corral 500, March 14, Hampton, Ga.

BUSCH SERIES

Sam’s Town 300

* When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:30 p.m.); Saturday, race (FX, 1 p.m.).

* Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway.