By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The four-times-a-year race team is in the Daytona 500 again.
Driving Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 Chevrolet in Thursday’s Gander RV Duel No. 2, Brendan Gaughan out-dueled Joey Gase to score a starting position in Sunday’s Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway.
And though the 43-year-old played it cool in the week leading up to the 60-lap qulifying race, the nerves were there.
“I swear to God I don’t think I’ve had butterflies this big in almost 10 years,” Gaughan said. “I was trying to play it cool for the Beards, keep everything chill. But inside, this was the most nervous I’ve been coming into a race in at least a decade.
“I haven’t felt like this since I was a teensager in this sport.”
At moments, one would think Gaughan had just won the 150-mile event, with smiles, “woo-hoo’s” and hugs all around on pit road postrace. One of those hugs came from Richard Childress, Gaughan’s past Xfinity Series team owner and a crucial element in providing Beard Motorsports with their ECR engine power.
“This is the Beard’s car but it’s a Chevrolet that came from RCR,” he said. “ECR is Richard’s motor and he takes great care of me. We all know I’ve driven for Richard for the last seven years, it’s been a long time and he still takes great care of me. Richard cares about me and I care about him.”
One person who didn’t quite care for Gaughan’s Daytona 500 dream was Joey Gase, who aggressively side-drafted Gaughan for the opening six laps. With Gase standing as Gaughan’s rival to make the race, Gaughan knew his cr has the preferred power to win the war.
“In the Xfinity Series, Joey is one of the toughest guys to pass on the restrictor plates,” he said. “And he side-drafted the hell out of me. I finally had to back up — and a thank you to Richard Childress and ECR motors — I did a man-to-man move and I had more motor. I backed up, got a run and did a single one-on-one move to get him. Once that happened, I knew we would pull away. From there, I was just looking for friends.”
Ironically enough, one of those friends was Casey Mears, the second car Gaughan had to beat to make the 500. This kept both Mears and Gase firmly in his mind for the entire race.
“Our whole race was just about the [Nos.] 66 and 27,” he said. “As soon as we got screwed up at the start, I wanted to find out what the No. 27 was doing because he was the next fastest car. We got the No. 32 tagged up with us and we had to have a mini draft of our own. That whole time, in those last four laps, I looked in my mirror going, ‘Is Corey going to try something? Is Casey going to go with him?’
“I tell you, I’ve never smelled more tire smoke, gear oil. I’ve never smelled more things about to be a catastrophe in my life that weren’t really there.”
Attention to detail has dripped far inside Beard’s restrictor-plate-only race team, as Gaughan has credited the Beard family for giving him all the nessesary parts to make the Daytona 500 for the third straight season.
“I’m just an old guy that the Beard’s brought out of retirement because I can still get it done on the restrictor plates,” he said. “And they give me equipment that can get it done on a restrictor plate.”
With three races planned following Sunday’s 500 (both Talladega races and Daytona in July) this race has already made the year for Gaughan and Beard.
“This is what makes the year for any race team,” he said. “It’s why it’s such a big deal to race here. The great thing about the Beards is, they’re not here to make money. They’re not trying to race all season, they want to race to win. They give me a car that can and we want to be here again like we were last year.
“If I dont win it, that’s OK, but I want to be in that pack with a lap to go.”
Gaughan looks like he should stay clear of the buffet tables in Vegas. Looking a tad portly there in his waning years.