Gaughan Surprise Nationwide Winner at Kentucky Speedway

SPARTA, KY – RIS – Brenden Gaughan charged past both Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon and drove away to an impressive victory in Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 Nationwide series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  It was the second win for Gaughan this season.  It also was a sweep of the top three positions by Richard Childress Racing with Brian Scott finishing second and Dillon third.  Points leader Elliott finished fourth and Regan Smith fifth.  All drove Chevrolet Camaros.

Dillon who dominated the race and led 155 of the 200 laps  had led for 104 consecutive laps prior to Elliott nabbing the lead on Lap 175 of 200, the same lap in which a caution flew after Eric McClure got into the wall.

 Elliott maintained his edge on the next restart, but the yellow came out again on Lap 183 when Sam Hornish Jr. hit the wall after contact with Regan Smith.

The final caution, for debris, came on Lap 189. That's when Gaughan made his move, jumping into the lead as Dillon and Elliott battled each other.  He was never headed.

Earlier, Dillon drove a nearly perfect race.  After challenges by the Nationwide Series’ best, Dillon came out first time after time.  In the end, Gaughan and Scott made the right move at the right time, and Dillon, who started back in the field after the last caution didn’t have time to catch up.

With the race coming on the same weekend as the Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, many of the Sprint Cup drivers who regularly compete in the Nationwide Series chose to not make the trip to Kentucky, and it was the Nationwide regulars who were on the track.

Michael McDowell subbed in the No. 22 Mustang for Team Penske and finished 8th.  Sam Hornish, Jr. stood in for Kyle Busch in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry and finished 30th after his accident late in the race.  

 Saturday night's race was the last standalone event of 2014.

The series returns to the track next weekend at Dover International Speedway. The Nationwide Series race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 27 and will be televised on ESPN2.

Race Results: Kentucky Speedway: 3rd Annual VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Lap, Pts, BPts, Status, TLd, LLd
1) 3, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Chevrolet, 200, 47, 4, Running, 2, 22
2) 5, Brian Scott, No. 2 Shore Lodge Chevrolet, 200, 42, , Running, ,
3) 1, Ty Dillon#, No. 3 Bass Pros Shops Chevrolet, 200, 43, 2, Running, 4, 155
4) 9, Chase Elliott#, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 41, 1, Running, 1, 20
5) 10, Regan Smith, No. 7 TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet, 200, 39, , Running, ,
6) 4, Cale Conley(i), No. 33 IAVA Chevrolet, 200, 0, , Running, , 7) 6, Chris Buescher#, No. 60 Roush Performance Parts Ford, 200, 37, , Running, ,
8) 8, Michael McDowell(i), No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, 200, 0, , Running, ,
9) 12, Justin Boston(i), No. 20 Zloop Toyota, 200, 0, , Running, ,
10) 15, Ross Chastain(i), No. 80 ADVICS/CMW Toyota, 200, 0, , Running, ,
11) 16, Ryan Reed#, No. 16 ADA Drive to Stop Diabetes presented by Lilly Ford, 200, 33, , Running, ,
12) 13, Dylan Kwasniewski#, No. 42 Up & Up Chevrolet, 200, 32, , Running, ,
13) 7, Elliott Sadler, No. 11 OneMain Financial Toyota, 200, 31, , Running, ,
14) 20, James Buescher, No. 99 ToyotaCare Toyota, 200, 30, , Running, ,
15) 11, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 200, 29, , Running, ,
16) 19, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 4 Bandit/GCL Construction/Polyglass Chevrolet, 199, 28, , Running, ,
17) 21, Ryan Sieg#, No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 198, 27, , Running, ,
18) 18, Austin Theriault, No. 5 Maine Open for Business Chevrolet, 198, 26, , Running, ,
19) 14, Dakoda Armstrong#, No. 43 WinField Ford, 198, 25, , Running, ,
20) 17, Chase Pistone(i), No. 31 Chevrolet, 198, 0, , Running, ,
21) 24, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RprbleVehicles.com/AllSouthElectric.com Chev, 197, 24, 1, Running, 1, 1
22) 31, Kevin Swindell, No. 93 JGL Racing Dodge, 197, 22, , Running, ,
23) 25, JJ Yeley, No. 28 Texas 28 Spirits Stage Dodge, 197, 21, , Running, ,
24) 23, Mike Bliss, No. 19 TriStar Motorsports Toyota, 197, 20, , Running, ,
25) 30, Blake Koch, No. 44 Centershot Toyota, 197, 20, 1, Running, 1, 1
26) 27, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 197, 18, , Running, ,
27) 26, Jamie Dick, No. 55 Viva Auto Group Chevrolet, 197, 17, , Running, ,
28) 34, Joey Gase, No. 52 Chevrolet, 196, 16, , Running, ,
29) 22, Landon Cassill, No. 01 G&K Services Chevrolet, 191, 15, , Vibration, ,
30) 2, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 186, 14, , Accident, ,
31) 28, Eric McClure, No. 14 Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Toyota, 170, 13, , Accident, ,
32) 38, Cody Ware, No. 23 38 Special/Voli Chevrolet, 159, 12, , Engine, ,
33) 33, Derrike Cope, No. 70 youtheory Chevrolet, 45, 11, , Rear Gear, ,
34) 29, Tanner Berryhill#, No. 17 NationalCashLenders.com Dodge, 36, 11, 1, Vibration, 1, 1
35) 37, Harrison Rhodes, No. 72 CrashClaimsR.us Chevrolet, 33, 9, , Suspension, ,
36) 35, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Courtney Construction Chevrolet, 17, 8, , Vibration, ,
37) 39, Josh Reaume, No. 87 Lilly Trucking Chevrolet, 9, 7, , Rear Gear, ,
38) 40, Mike Harmon, No. 74 WCIParts.com Dodge, 9, 6, , Transmission, ,
39) 36, Ryan Ellis, No. 46 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 6, 5, , Vibration, ,
40

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the midle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2014, Issue 9, Posted 12:05 AM, 09.21.2014