Brendan Gaughan wins Nationwide pole

In only his first Nationwide Series attempt in “Thunder Valley", Rusty Wallace Racing’s Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Impala SS) scored his first career Nationwide Series pole this morning in qualifying for today’s Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Gaughan was the 19th of 50 cars to make a qualifying attempt in this morning’s session. His pole winning lap of 15.209 seconds (126.162 MPH) came his second of two qualifying laps, knocking then provisional pole-sitter Carl Edwards from the top spot.

His pole win marked the second time in three years that a RWR entry has won the pole position for the spring Bristol event, following up on Steve Wallace’s 2007 pole win.

Noted Gaughan, “Having Rusty Wallace’s black and gold paint scheme at Bristol, we knew this baby was going to be fast, but our South Point Hotel & Casino Chevy was really on a rail. I had a 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength before qualifying, so I’m all jacked up and ready to go for this afternoon’s race.

I just really want to thank this whole Rusty Wallace Racing team for giving me the chance to drive these hot rods. I’m having more fun this year than I’ve ever had in racing."

Meanwhile, after a top-five performance in practice, Gaughan’s RWR teammate and former Bristol pole-winner, Steve Wallace (No. 66 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet) is looking to put on a show for the fans this afternoon, as he seeks to charge forward from a 31st place qualifying effort.

Said Wallace, “We have a really, really good 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet in race trim and that’s what really matters to us. When we taped up the car and put it in qualifying trim, it just got way too loose. We would have liked to qualify better, but we’re ready to roll. I’ll just shoot a 5-Hour Energy before the race, get up on the wheel and try to head towards the front. We had a top-ten in the last race here and I really think we have an even better car this time around."

Results

+ Set by Owners Points
* Denotes Rookie