What the Gaughan-McAnally pairing led to was a rookie season in the West Series in 1999, followed by back-to-back series championships in 2000 and 2001, the second and third of McAnally’s record seven titles as a car owner in the division.
That run also catapulted NAPA into the spotlight with Gaughan, leading the auto parts giant to jump onboard his Truck Series entry for the full season in 2002, where together they scored two wins, five top-fives and nine top-10s in 22 races en route to 11th in points and Rookie of the Year honors.
Though 2002 was the only season that NAPA was a full-season primary partner with Gaughan at the national level, driver and sponsor never forgot the other, as NAPA decals remained on Gaughan’s entries for several years afterward in an associate capacity.
The early memories that they shared, however, were recently evoked one more time when Gaughan worked with McAnally to solidify a deal that brought NAPA branding back to Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet for NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway.
It wasn’t an official sponsorship, as Gaughan’s family-owned hotel and casino chain (South Point) still paid the bills, but the team was allowed to use the official logos and brought back the very first paint scheme that the Las Vegas native ran in the Truck Series for the 200-mile race.
That was something that Gaughan classified as “tremendously special” to be able to be a part of.
“Bill was vital in that deal even happening in the first place,” Gaughan said with a smile. “I talk to McAnally all the time. He was instrumental … a lot of the old VPs … Dan Askey and a bunch of the guys at corporate; I’ve just got to say thank you to all of them for making that dream of mine happen.”
“That was very special to me. It didn’t mean squat to anyone else, but it meant a lot to me. To be able to put the NAPA colors back on one of my race cars, that was a flashback to that very first Cup race in 1998 in the (No. 16) NAPA car. They were my very first Cup sponsor; they sponsored me for the West championships, the rookie of the year season in Trucks … I had so many great memories with those guys and it was absolutely wonderful to see the blue and gold NAPA badge on me again. I will forever be grateful to them for all they’ve done for me.”
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
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Great article about Brendan and his years with NAPA. Mcanally is a personal friend who I’ve known since his early days of racing. And promoting the up and coming drivers, like Gaughan was all those years ago, is a testament to his talent of building such an awesome team. NAPA sure knows how to pick them.