The South Point Racing Shop returned to life Tuesday after sitting eerily quiet for three months. The 28,000-square-foot Las Vegas speed factory owned by Michael Gaughan has seen little activity since he decided to put it on hiatus and not operate a team for his son, Brendan Gaughan, in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In preparation for NASCAR weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the nearby shop became a beehive of activity Tuesday. Several teams used it to make repairs resulting from last weekend’s rain-delayed Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. “(Without the Gaughan shop), we would’ve been working in a parking lot or maybe at the speedway,” said Kenny Francis, crew chief for the Gillett Evernham Motorsports #9 Dodge driven by Kasey Kahne in the Cup series. “This is a really nice option Francis and his team were among about a dozen using the Gaughan shop. Gaughan [currently driving #10 Ford], who won eight times in 2002 and 2003, holds out hope his family will return with a truck team within a couple of years. But even if the South Point shop is preparing for truck races then, it always will open its massive garage doors for teams needing a port in a storm.(Las Vegas Review-Journal)(2-27-2008)
