Brendan Gaughan goes back to his roots in K&N Pro Series

Gaughan will compete with Bill McAnally Racing, which will field five entries for the race with Xfinity Series driver Christopher Bell along with current K&N regulars Derek Kraus, Cole Rouse, and Hailie Deegan.

Bell competed with BMR in two K&N West events in 2015. Gaughan, a Las Vegas native, won back-to-back K&N West championships with the Bill McAnally-led team in 2000 and 2001.

“All of our guys from those years have decided they’re going to come back,” said Gaughan, who will be driving the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota. “We’re bringing all the old guys back. It’s going to be fun.”

His team will be led by returning crew chief Shane Wilson, who worked with Gaughan in multiple divisions in NASCAR at regional and national levels.

“We’re very excited about reuniting with Brendan and the other members of the championship team for the dirt race at Las Vegas,” McAnally said. “We experienced a lot of success with that group and had a lot of fun, too. A lot of long-term friendships developed along the way. It will be great to get back together and see everyone.”

After winning his two titles in what was then known as the NASCAR Winston West Series, Gaughan graduated to the Camping World Truck Series, where he won the rookie of the year honors in 2002. He followed that up by contending for the series championship in 2003 and being named most popular driver.

Gaughan went on to race a full schedule in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2004, before settling back into the Truck Series and eventually the Xfinity Series – where he went to Victory Lane on two occasions. This year, he stepped back from racing full-time and now competes in select events.

Along with his two championships in K&N Pro Series West, Gaughan accumulated eight wins, six poles, 24 top-five, and 30 top-10 finishes in 46 series starts.

The K&N West series last raced on a dirt track at Ascot Park in Gardena, Calif., in 1979.