Gaughan to attempt Daytona 500: If upstarts Derrike Cope, Jamie McMurray and Trevor Bayne are capable of winning the Daytona 500, then why not Brendan Gaughan? Brendan Gaughan said he will drive the Chevrolet Michael McDowell wheeled to a 15th-place finish for Leavine Family Racing in last year’s race. The car owner is Mark Beard of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a former driver and team owner in the Midwest-based ARCA series who had a couple of Xfinity starts during the 1980s. “Jay Robinson, the man I drove for a couple of years ago at Premium Motorsports, called me in the middle of the Christmas break and said a friend of his was trying to do a deal and run the 500,” said the 41-year-old Gaughan, who qualified for the inaugural Xfinity Series Chase in 2016 driving for Richard Childress. “They bought the old Leavine car, they’ve hired ECR to do motors “ real racing motors “ and they asked if I would be interested. So it’s got Richard Childress motors, and I’m going to have a Richard Childress pit crew “ my guys “ and so we’re going to the Daytona 500 and see if we can qualify.”Â(Las Vegas Review Journal)(1-13-2017)
