Bakersfield, Calif. -- It was a banner weekend for Brendan Gaughan and Orleans Racing. Taking a 3rd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Race, they followed it up by putting their No. 16 NAPA/Martin Senour Chevrolet Monte Carlo in 3rd place at the Winston West FOODS CO 200, Round 4 of the NASCAR Winston West Series.
Gridded in 10th, Gaughan made an immediate charge to the front, taking over the lead within a few laps. "We don't normally try to go straight to the front," explained Gaughan, but we had a chance and decided to take it this time."
Continuing to lead, Gaughan was experiencing some handling problems. "Our NAPA Monte Carlo was good to run high, but not low, so we decided to pit and the crew made a huge change which really made us fast. In fact, as the race progressed, our Chevy just got better and better."
Exercising the patience that he is known for, Gaughan once again began to move up through the pack. On the last restart with just 15 laps to go, he took off and got into 3rd. "The car was good, but I knew I didn't have enough time to catch the leader, plus we had a left rear going down, so we just kept our position and held on to our 3rd place spot," continued Gaughan. "It was really a good race and our team did an incredible job. Our pit stops were great and the whole team is totally together. Once again, our crew chief Shane Wilson and our spotter Billy Holbrook were right on the entire race."
Taking 3rd jumped Gaughan, the defending NASCAR Winston West champion into 8th place in the 2001 point's battle. "It's early in the season," summed up Gaughan, "and, we're feeling good. It looks like we have everything sorted out and we're good to go. This was definitely a good weekend for Orleans Racing. We even won the pre-race golf tournament on Friday."
The NASCAR Winston West Series continues April 28th at California Motor
Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
