Debris robs Gaughan of ground in title chase

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- A cruel Halloween joke was played on points leader Brendan Gaughan on Friday, as debris played a trick on his engine with 11 laps to go in the Craftsman Truck Series Silverado 150.

	Brendan Gaughan

Gaughan finished 12th and gave back 43 championship points to Ted Musgrave, who finished second and drew to 26 points of Gaughan with one race to go.

Gaughan knows his lead could have been a lot bigger heading into Miami-Homestead in two weeks. But a date with a piece of debris knocked a plug wire loose in his engine, draining the power than had sent him to second place by Lap 110.

"The fans deserve a good points finish," said Gaughan. "They are still chasing us. We're not chasing them."

For a while, it appeared that Gaughan would not have a chance to score his seventh win of the year. He had qualified just 14th on Wednesday -- his worst spot all year -- and he didn't impress in either practice.

His truck wasn't good early in the race either -- until crew chief Shane Wilson made major changes on the first pit stop.

"We took two tires the first time," Gaughan said. "Shane (crew chief Wilson) made some adjustments, and it worked great with two tires."

CHEVY SILVERADO 150  •  Results  •  Standings  •  Craftsman Tools of the Trade

After that, Gaughan's truck took off. And when his crew pulled off a lightning-quick pit stop the second time around, it put him with the leaders.

"My guys kicked ass," Gaughan said. "They crushed that stop. Drove our way back to the front. In the end, we were catching (Kevin Harvick)."

Gaughan was drawing closer to Harvick, who led the final 48 laps, before he ran over the debris.

"We had one hell of a truck," Gaughan said. "We had a truck that could win."

Despite the bad finish at Phoenix, Gaughan retains a ton of confidence for the season finale at Miami-Homestead, which increased its banking to 20 degrees.

Four of Gaughan's six victories in 2003 have come on high-banked tracks.

"We feel very good on high banked (tracks)," Gaughan said. "We have three trucks in the wind tunnel right now, going to pick the one that is the best. That is the advantage we have with Dodge."