Gaughan looks to shake short-track drought in Ohio

Brendan Gaughan has never been a fan of short-track racing. In fact, he's never won on a track smaller than a mile in length. So for someone looking to end a 57-race winless streak, you would think Mansfield -- the smallest track on the schedule -- would be the last place Gaughan would want to race. But Gaughan doesn't see it that way.

"The Martinsville truck, I still believe, was the best short-track truck that I have ever driven," Gaughan said. "We're taking the same truck as the primary to Mansfield and I plan on making up for Martinsville."

BTN: Mansfield

This is only the fourth Truck Series race at Mansfield, but Jack Sprague can already claim to own the track with three top-two finishes.

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The fourth race of the season at Martinsville didn't go the way Gaughan imagined. After posting practice speeds in the top 15, the South Point Racing driver saw an opportunity to shake his short-track image. But a qualifying run of 22nd put the No. 77 team in a hole right from the beginning and then three consecutive pit-road penalties -- two for speeding and one for pitting when pit road was closed -- put Gaughan three laps down and he finished 25th.

"The driver made a mistake in qualifying and it cost the whole team during the race," Gaughan said. "But that's what happens in this sport -- it's a team sport. The driver can make a mistake or the crew can make a mistake and it affects everybody."

With Martinsville behind him, Gaughan looks to improve his short-track performances and has the opportunity at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park on Saturday (1 p.m. ET, FOX). To get ready for the .5-mile track, the Las Vegas native has done extensive testing in his hometown and Gaughan thinks that will make all the difference this weekend.

"We just got done testing for the third time at the Las Vegas Bullring, which actually is very similar to Mansfield with the exception of newer pavement at the Bullring," Gaughan said. "And I think those Bullring tests are really going to pay off.

"I said it before the Charlotte test and race and I'll keep saying it -- every time the South Point team and I get to test we always end up going to that track and running fantastic."

In two races at Mansfield, Gaughan finished 15th in 2005 and 17th in 2006. One positive for Gaughan is in both races he finished on the lead lap so unlike other short tracks on the schedule, he has something to build on.

But nothing can replace testing, and Gaughan says the team has taken advantage of their location on the West coast.

"We've been able to test three times, which is the great thing about our shop being at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and our relationship with the speedway," Gaughan said. "They let us go out there and run. We go out there -- whether its three hours, an hour or 10 laps. We take the truck over there, go run and try out a bunch of different setups.

"It really works out well for us. It's part of the advantage of being out here -- we get to do that. We think we're really prepared for this race."

Despite how primed Gaughan feels, he knows it's been 57 races since he's visited Victory Lane -- a trip last made in 2003 when he took the checkered at Texas. Gaughan also knows he's never won on a short track, a streak he looks to end at the shortest track on the schedule this weekend.

"Everybody knows that I claim to be a big-track type of guy," Gaughan said. "Mansfield is an old-fashioned, tough as nails short track. I think we have a better short-track program now than we have ever had and the last few tests at the Bullring have gone really well, so I believe we'll be as good as we were in practice at Martinsville.

"Now it's time to transfer that to qualifying and the race."