Brendan Gaughan No. 62 Team is David vs. Racing’s Goliath in 62nd Daytona 500

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If you’re looking for a Daytona 500 underdog story, look no further than Beard Motorsports and driver Brendan Gaughan. 

 

Gaughan will put a cap on his 23-year NASCAR driving career by running a four-race NASCAR Cup Series schedule in 2020, beginning with the 62nd Daytona 500 Sunday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The 44-year-old racer from Las Vegas is competing for Beard Motorsports, driving the No. 62 Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro. After Daytona, Gaughan will return to the seat April 24-26 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Aug. 27-29 at Daytona and Oct. 2-4 at Talladega for what will be his final NASCAR Cup Series start.

 

Gaughan has made 12 NASCAR Cup Series starts with Beard Motorsports, all coming at Daytona and Talladega. And in a series dominated by multicar teams with hundreds of employees, Beard Motorsports does it with one full-time employee, crew chief Darren Shaw. Its one part-time employee, car chief Andrew Mickey, is a fulltime, industrial plumber. And the two mechanics who come in on race weekends – one is a boat captain (Nic Hill) and the other is an automotive body technician (Jack Cagnon).

 

Beard Motorsports has proven to be the little team that could, a modern-day David competing against the Goliaths of the NASCAR Cup Series. Owned by Mark Beard Sr., president of Beard Motorsports and various family businesses,Beard Motorsports has taken a strategic approach to its racing endeavors, forming a technical partnership with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and running only the superspeedway races at Daytona and Talladega. With cars constructed by RCR and powered by ECR-built engines, Beard Motorsports has scored two top-10 finishes, the most recent being an eighth-place drive last April at Talladega where Gaughan led five laps.

 

In fact, it was last October at Talladega where five laps short of the finish, Gaughan took the lead as the field approached turn three of the 2.66-mile oval. Unfortunately, Gaughan never made it through turn three, as he was sent airborne after being collected in a multicar accident. Gaughan walked away from the spectacular crash unhurt, and despite the 27th-place finish, remained upbeat as he spoke to reporters outside the infield care center following a precautionary medical evaluation. The No. 62 Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro had run up front, and was this close to slaying Goliath. Gaughan could taste the victory, and while the outcome proved to be bittersweet, it set the stage for an epic comeback in this year’s Daytona 500.

 

Don’t count out the No. 62 in the 62nd Daytona 500, because Brendan is #NotGaughanYet.

 

Beard Motorsports PR

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