BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday that Brendan Gaughan — two-time NASCAR West champion, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series race winner, and off-road racing star — has joined the organization’s board of directors.
Gaughan of Las Vegas, Nev., was inducted into the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame with the most recent class of honorees in June 2022.
“Young, experienced and diverse people of executive quality are a strong assurance that the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame will continue to grow for many years,” said Ken Clapp, chairman and CEO of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame. “I have known Brendan since he was a teenager and we are very fortunate to have him agree to join the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Board of Directors.”
Gaughan began his motorsports career in off-road racing — winning the first race he entered, at the age of 15.
He won multiple off-road and desert titles and was the 1998 SODA World Champion. He moved to NASCAR competition in 1998, winning the 2000-01 NASCAR West (now ARCA Menards Series West) championships, driving for West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Famer and fellow Board of Directors member Bill McAnally.
Gaughan joined the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series full time in 2002, winning eight times in 217 starts, including four consecutive victories at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished fourth in series championship standings in 2004.
Gaughan then moved to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he posted victories at Road America and Bristol, and the NASCAR Cup Series with a best finish of fourth at Talladega Superspeedway. His NASCAR national series scorecard features 503 starts, 10 wins, 72 top-five and 155 top-10 finishes and 3 poles.
Gaughan, 47, is a nationally recognized television and radio personality.
Gaughan’s family goes all the way back to the 1940s and is synonymous with Las Vegas, notably with the Las Vegas South Point Hotel & Casino. His father, Michael, also is an inductee into the West Coast Stock Car Motorsports Hall of Fame. The younger Gaughan is in partnership managing 17A Distillery, the first and only legal distillery in the history of Las Vegas and distiller of City Lights Shine traditional southern moonshine.