NXS: 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Preview – Brendan Gaughan

After a solid, successful season in 2014, Brendan Gaughan is back with Richard Childress Racing in 2015 in search of more success.

Looking back at 2014…

Last year was a successful season in many ways for Brendan Gaughan in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he finished eighth in points with a pair of wins and seven top-10 finishes. While running the full schedule for only the third time in his career, it marks his highest points finish.

Though points finish and overall statistics aside, the season was huge for Gaughan for one reason – victory. Gaughan has run Xfinity races since 2009, but had yet to secure a victory – till now. In the middle of the season at Elkhart Lake, Gaughan led eight laps and held off all challengers en route to his first career victory. The victory was a sign of relief for the driver of the No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet as he was able to finally prove to everyone that he could get it done – as he famously pointed out in victory lane.

They always say that if you get one win, the rest will come much easily, as that win takes off the pressure and lets you let loose. It seemed to work for Gaughan as he able to keep up a solid string of finishes, before leading 47 laps en route to scoring the victory at Kentucky Speedway in dominant fashion. Not only was he a race winner, but a two-time race winner. It proved to anybody out there that even though he is one of the senior members of the tour, he can get it done. Of course, that shouldn’t be a surprise considering the success he had in the Camping World Truck Series.

Looking ahead at 2015….

After a successful solid top-10 season, expectations are set at Brendan Gaughan repeating those results once again. Though if the Richard Childress Racing organization can find some more speed and consistency, Gaughan could break the amount of total top-10s into the double digit numbers and break into the top-five in points. His teammate Ty Dillon was able to finish fifth as a rookie with a win on the year, so what’s stopping Gaughan?

RCR will certainly be hoping to get their speed to match that of JR Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske, and if they’re able to do that, insert the organization into the championship discussion. Gaughan’s experience could lead to being a heavy part of that discussion as he would know, versus the youth, what he has to do to put himself in that spot. he has done it before in the trucks, only coming up a few points short as a result of a wreck in the final event. Could he do that again? Very well.

There should also be a couple of wins on the season for Gaughan when everything is said and done. Three trips to road courses should play well, given his expertise and experience as evident with the win this past season. Though, on the ovals, it’ll just depend whether the car is there for Gaughan to contend with.