Brendan Gaughan put a giant exclamation mark on his 2001 season on Saturday night by leading the final 114 laps and winning the $108,628 JaniKing 250 presented by NAPA at Irwindale Speedway.
With the victory he clinched his second consecutive NASCAR Winston West Series championship and swept all three series races this year at the Southern California track.
Gaughan, who entered the event with just a 40-point lead in the championship standings, clinched the title by 60 points over series rookie Mark Reed, who finished the race in fourth. The race was slowed by seven cautions and there were 11 lead changes among seven drivers.
Brandon Ash, who led 29 laps and gave up the top spot to Gaughan on lap 137, finished .825 seconds behind the champion’s Chevrolet, with Scott Lynch taking third. Reed was fourth, followed by Steve Portenga in fifth.
Rounding out the top-10 were Austin Cameron, Tim Woods III, Bobby Dotter, Eric Norris and Brett Thompson.
Gaughan, who averaged 75.063 mph for 250 laps of the half-mile oval, became the first driver in nearly a decade to win back-to-back titles in the series. Bill Sedgwick, who finished 11th, was the last to do it in 1991-92.
