Thriving in Las Vegas: truck series driver Brendan Gaughan, the son of a casino owner, grew up in the gaming mecca and learned early about the thrill of competition

For Brendan Gaughan, life always has the element of chance, lie's from Las Vegas and grew up in the casino business understands gambling. His father, Michael Gaughan, owns several casinos, including The Orleans, which sponsors Gaughan's No. 62 Dodge in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Gaughan, 27, learned the family business--from restaurant operations to the blackjack tables. And while some may consider his upbringing unusual, Gaughan says it wasn't.

"My family was more like the Cleavers than people realize," Gaughan says. "I grew up in a town that is very special to me but very odd to people by some standards. My father was home every night for dinner, and we had strict curfews. We went to Our Lady of Las Vegas right down the street, so it was really pretty normal.

"But because it's Las Vegas, because there are casinos and gambling, it seems odd to the outside observers. As you get older, you realize that there are some unorthodox sides to Las Vegas, but that's a whole other chapter."

With the exposure to gaming and as the third of four children, Gaughan learned to love competition.

"Whether it's with my brothers, my sister or if I'm just driving down the road," he says. "That's what I find compelling about the Craftsman Truck Series. It's young guys with drive trying to get somewhere and veterans saying, `You have to get by me first.' That's what makes the truck series so competitive right now.

"When you watch us, we hit each other more than any other series. Not in a bad way but in a good way. We bang doors more often and rub fenders more often. And it's a great training field."

Gaughan started racing at 15 in off-road trucks for Walker Evans, a legendary off-road racer. Gaughan also played football and basketball in high school. During his senior year, he was recruited by Georgetown as a wide receiver and punter and went there. That fall, Gaughan walked on to the Hoyas' basketball team.

He spent his summer vacations racing the CORE Series in the Midwest for Evans, who offered Gaughan an opportunity to race the Winston West Series and some Craftsman Truck Series races after he graduated from Georgetown in 1997.

While running the limited truck schedule with Evans, Gaughan won Winston West titles in 2000 and 2001. Last year was Gaughan's first full season in the truck series. He finished 11th in points and was the rookie of the year. He also won both races at Texas Motor Speedway.

The second race at Texas really paid off. After winning there in June, Gaughan felt extremely confident entering the fall race. When he saw his odds were 10-1 at The Palms, a casino that competes with his father's casinos, Gaughan couldn't resist a $1,000 wager. After the casino's percentage was deducted, he added $9,500 to the $58,430 he made on the track.

Gaughan says he doesn't have a favorite game at the casino--but he hates to lose.

"Show me a good loser, and I'll just show you a loser," Gaughan says with a laugh. "I've lost money at all of them and won money at all of them. That's why it's called gambling--I just try not to do it too much.

"There's a lot I can learn from gambling that I can take to racing. A casino is based completely on mathematical numbers and odds. You have to maximize your odds in racing. That means you have to test; you have to hire the right crew and engineering staff and take advantage of certain situations on the racetracks. But the only thing I can learn from racing that I can take back to the table is minimizing your risk. Sometimes hitting the wall is better and smarter."

Gaughan, who is third in points this season, has become a student of the sport and pays attention to those who have raced before him.

Veterans such as Bobby Hamilton, the points leader, have taken notice of that savvy. At Darlington, knowing that Hamilton had the stronger truck, Gaughan gave him the lead rather than trying to battle him.

"Brendan is better on the bigger tracks," Hamilton says. "He works traffic really well. He's aggressive, waits patiently until the end to strike. You would think he'd be better at short tracks because that's where he grew up racing. But like a lot of the younger drivers, he tends to be a bit impatient.

"I think he'll be pretty sharp. He's been improving at a steady pace, and if he gets an opportunity to move to Cup in the next couple of years, he'll be ready for it."

TSN's TRUCK POLL

Rank      Driver              TSN pts.     Truck pts.

 1.       Bobby Hamilton         428        670 (1)
 2.       Dennis Setzer          392        590 (5)
 3.       Rick Crawford          389        631 (2)
 4.       Ted Musgrave           347        591 (4)
 5.       Brendan Gaughan        299        594 (3)
 6.       Travis Kvapil          282        569 (6)
 7.       Terry Cook             261        557 (7)
 8.       Robert Pressley        252        551 (8)
 9.       Jason Leffler          239        514 (10)
10.       Jon Wood               197        520 (9)

Through race No. 4, at Martinsville, Va. For a complete TSN
Power Poll rundown and an explanation of the points breakdown,
go to www.sportingnews.con/nascar/