NASCAR veteran set for one final ride
By Asher Fair
Brendan Gaughan is set to retire from NASCAR competition after competing in today’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Beard Motorsports’ Brendan Gaughan determined before the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season began — and well before he ended up being one of the few drivers diagnosed with COVID-19 throughout the coronavirus pandemic-affected year — that it would be his last.
Now his final start is upon him.
After today’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, the 45-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native is set to retire from NASCAR competition.
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Gaughan has competed in 66 Cup Series races over the course of 11 different seasons going back to 2001, including the four superspeedway races in each of the last few seasons. He also competed at the Daytona International Speedway road course this summer.
While he has only competed full-time in the Cup Series for one season when he drove for Penske-Jasper Racing back in 2004, Gaughan has competed in NASCAR on some level each year going back to 1997. Among the active full-time Cup Series drivers, only Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick has been around for longer.
Gaughan has competed in 502 races altogether in NASCAR, including 219 over 12 seasons in the Xfinity Series and 217 over 14 seasons in the Truck Series. He competed full-time in the former for six years and full-time in the latter for eight.
His career-high Cup Series finish is his fourth place finish at Talladega Superspeedway back in 2004. He finished his lone full season at the sport’s top level in 28th in the championship standings.
He won two Xfinity Series races, both in 2014, at Road America and Kentucky Speedway, and he finished in a career-high eighth place in the standings that year as well. He also won eight Truck Series races, including two in the 2002 season and six in the 2003 season. He finished in a career-high fourth in the standings in 2003.
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Tune in to NBC at 2:00 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the 2020 YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway to see Brendan Gaughan’s final NASCAR start.