"(Oct. 15, 2001) - Brendan Gaughan garnered what he considers the biggest win of his young career with a NASCAR Winston West Series victory in his hometown of Las Vegas an Oct. 13.
The popular win, the fifth of the season for Gaughan and the NAPA/Martin Senour team, came in The 24 Hour Fitness 150 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
"It means the world to me to finally be able to win here," the defending series champion said of the 1.5-mile superspeedway. "My whole family was here; we finally won at Las Vegas."
Gaughan, who started the race from the 10th spot, worked his way to the front progressing up to fifth by lap 20 and third by lap 40. He initially took the lead just before the midway point of the race. Although he dropped off the point as the front-runners made green-flag pit stops for fresh tires and fuel, Gaughan charged back up front to take the lead for good on lap 80.
He crossed the finish line with a margin of victory of .866 of a second, while breaking the race record with an average speed of 174.288 mph. Gaughan's win, his seventh career victory in the series, netted him $15,825 in prize money and posted awards.
Austin Cameron of El Cajon, Calif., finished second in the Creative Touch/McMillin Realty Chevrolet - to claim his third runner-up finish on the Las Vegas superspeedway. Mark Reed of Bakersfield, Calif., was third in the Food 4 Less Pontiac, followed by John Metcalf of Aurora, Colo., in the Team RE/MAX Chevrolet and Mike David of Modesto, Calif., in the Injury Helpline.com Ford. Rounding out the top 10 were Scott Gaylord, Sean Woodside, Eric Norris, Jon Wood and Brandon Ash. Wood had won his second Bud Pole Award of the season with a qualifying lap of 765.517 mph in the AutoConcierge Ford.
The race featured seven lead changes among three drivers - Scott Riggs, Gaughan and Wood. The pace was slowed by four cautions for 18 laps.
As the series heads to its final race of the season, Gaughan has expanded his slight lead in the championship standings to 40 points. He tops Reed - 2,072 to 2,032. Cameron is third with 1,898, while Steve Portenga is fourth with 1,828. Norris is fifth with 1,807. The top 10 is also comprised of Woodside at 1,799, Johnny Borneman at 1,788, Gaylord at 1,770, Kevin Richards at 1,708 and Ash at 1,677.
Reed remains out front in the chase for the Rookie-of-the-Year Award. He leads with 128 points over Borneman with 115. Tim Woods III trails with 89.
Gaughan, meanwhile, dominates the competition for the Gatorade Front Runner Award with 19 points. He is followed in that category by Reed with eight, Portenga with seven and Woodside with six.
The final event on the 2001 schedule will be the Food 4 Less 250 at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway on Nov. 10th.
