By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
The chaotic end to Sunday’s Geico 500 paid dividends to one of the throwback small teams of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series: Beard Motorsports and driver Brendan Gaughan.
After the veteran driver missed qualifying due to a family obligation Saturday, Gaughan returned to the team’s No. 62 Chevrolet for the 188-lap race at Talladega Superspeedway. And in only their second of four starts in 2019 (coming in for only the superspeedway events), they finished the event in the eighth spot.
“I keep telling these guys, ‘I don’t know what [the drivers’] problem is, this stuff is easy,'” Gaughan joked. “‘I’m only here once every three months, I come in with a top 10 and walk away.'”
The result was Gaughan’s first top 10 since 2017 and the team’s fifth top-12 finish in only their 10th start.
“This is great for that family,” he said of the Beards. “We have a Chevrolet that we can actually push into the hauler. We don’t have to put it on casters. And it came with another top 10 for this family.”
With team owner Mark Beard at the track, Gaughan was thrilled to pay back a man whose put Gaughan into his net chapters of racing.
“This guy is absolutely awesome, I love this family,” he said. “They’re so great to me and they’ve enabled me to have an afterlife of racing. I’ll never forget what they’ve done for me.”
The work ethic behind Beard Motorsports is what keeps Gaughan wanting to come back four times a year.
“I have a great family that buys great racecars, gets great engines from ECR, we get a little bit of help from Richard [Childress] to make sure it’s up to snuff on rules,” he added. “The family doesn’t try to make money. They’re here to race and to be racers. They’ve got customers here, they’re trying to learn that you bring your customers here and schmooze them, what better way for their customers? That’s what you do it for.”
“It’s such a throwback of NASCAR that doesn’t happen anymore. I don’t think they get enough recognition for it. Not for me, for them.”
Another throwback Sunday at Talladega was the stability of the cars. With Gaughan’s racing career spanning decades, the Laz Vegas native loved what he saw.
“These things were very reminiscent of an old truck to drive,” he said. “In the end, people say, ‘Oh, I want it tougher.’ I think some people forget that we are paid professionals out here, this is what we’re supposed to do. If you’re going to whine that it’s tough to drive, go play tiddlywinks.”
With cars pushing hard and changing lanes most of the day, Gaughan enjoyed being up on the wheel at a superspeedway again.
“There was no stability. It was awesome,” he said. “I’d rather have a racecar like that because you have to work and earn your money. They need to be difficult and they were today.
“This is what these guys are paid to do — I’m on vacation. We do what we do, we’re some of the best in the world at it. It’s fun to be at there with the best in the world.”