Darlington: Brendan Gaughan race notes

Gaughan earns podium finish at Darlington.

Darlington, SC...Successfully dancing with the "Lady in Black", Brendan Gaughan put his No. 62 Orleans/Waterloo Tool Storage Dodge on the Podium at Darlington Raceway at the Craftsman 200, Round 2 of the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Running on this famed track for only the second time, Gaughan earned third place honors right behind veterans Bobby Hamilton, Sr. and Ted Musgrave.

"What a ride," said an obviously elated Gaughan. "We came in here with high hopes of a podium finish and that is just what we got. I sure love it when a plan comes to action."

With qualifying canceled due to rain, Gaughan was gridded in 9th. When the Green Flag fell, he wasted no time in starting to move toward the front. "I moved up a couple of spots early on," explained Gaughan. "Hamilton was right behind me and I decided to let him by so that I could follow him. I knew he was much more familiar with the track and figured I could learn by being behind him."

And, it worked.  Continuing his march forward, Gaughan was up in 5th when the
first Yellow came out.  "We pulled in the pits and took on four tires and
fuel," said Gaughan.  "It was an awesome stop and we got out really fast.  In
fact, we gained a position putting us in fourth place.  Our Dodge was bad to
the bone.  I couldn't have asked for a better truck."

Hitting his mark lap after lap, Gaughan moved into 2nd and took over the lead for a couple of laps before his second pit stop under Green. "All we needed was fuel and tires," he said. "The truck was really good and again the crew got me in and out."

Running hard, Gaughan kept up the pressure running right behind the top two Dodges.

"With about thirty laps to go, the track went yellow and we made our final pit stop of the day taking on tires and a splash of fuel," he continued. "I got held up by a back marker coming out of the pits, but we still managed to maintain our 3rd place slot and finished the race on the podium. We definitely have one of the best teams out there. As is evidenced by today, the Orleans crew knows how to get the job done. Both Hamilton and Musgrave have a ton more experience on this track than me and being able to finish right behind them really says something about this team."

With two races complete, Gaughan now sits in 4th in the points battle heading into Bakersfield, March 23rd.

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