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Race report

Gaughan earns first oval win in RCR 1-2-3 at Kentucky

A risky pass helped Brendan Gaughan steal the win in the closing laps at Kentucky Speedway.

Race winner Brendan Gaughan

Race winner Brendan Gaughan

NASCAR Media

Brendan Gaughan
Brian Scott
Ty Dillon
Ty Dillon
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott
Brad Keselowski
Regan Smith

The No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Brendan Gaughan pulled into victory lane for the second time in 2014 on Saturday night, this time after the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway. His RCR teammates Brian Scott in the No. 2 Chevrolet and Ty Dillon in the No. 3 finished second and third to give car owner Richard Childress a sweep of the top-three.

Gaughan battled Scott, Dillon and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott on a late-race restart with seven laps to go in the 200-lap race.

"I've always loved my restarts," Gaughan said.

Elliott and Dillon lose out

Elliott finished fourth, and JR Motorsports teammate Regan Smith in the No. 7 Chevrolet was fifth to give Chevrolet a sweep of the top-five of the finishing order.

"We were at least able to get up front and give ourselves a chance," Elliott said. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the job done."

It hurts ... It hurts bad

Ty Dillon on losing lead late

Dillon dominated the race, leading 155 of the 200 laps that made up the race, after starting on the pole. Gaughan was second in the laps led category with 22 laps led, while Elliott led 20. Three other drivers each led a single lap.

"We had a dominant car. I hate it for my guys. It hurts; it hurts bad," Dillon said of coming up short after dominating the race. "One, two, three -- not bad. But it hurts bad."

Race summary

Gaughan led early in the race when he took over from Dillon on a restart that followed a lap-five caution. He lost the top spot on pit road with a call to take four tires while other front-runners took two during the second caution of the race that came on lap 24. He restarted 14th while teammate Dillon restarted with the lead and pulled away from the field.

Track position was key the whole time

Brian Scott

Dillon pulled away to an advantage of nearly five seconds over Elliott by the time the yellow flag waved again on lap 114. Scott replaced Elliott in second after beating Elliott on pit road during the yellow flag, and when the race returned to green, Dillon pulled away again, but he wasn't able to get out as far in front of Scott as he had Elliott earlier.

"Track position was key the whole time," Scott said. "I felt like we were a first and second-place car the whole time. We just got stuck back in traffic."

Elliott retook second from Scott on pit road to restart next to Dillon with just under 30 laps to go. Elliott then got back by Dillon just before the sixth yellow flag on lap 175. Elliott restarted on point and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford of Michael McDowell held second before a failing to get a good restart, handing the podition back to the driver of the No. 3.

"I asked for something different in my transmissions and the guys in the transmission department gave it too me," Gaughan said.

Sprint to the finish

The yellow flag waved one more time, the eighth time in the race, to give the race a seven-lap sprint to the finish. Gaughan was able to make a three wide pass for the lead while Elliott and Dillon ran door-to-door, which would end up being the winning move. RCR brought home the top three spots in the finishing order with Gaughan, Scott, and Dillon. JR Motorsport's Elliott and Smith would place fourth and fifth.

Cale Conley, in a fourth RCR entry, the No. 33 Chevrolet, finished sixth. The No. 60  Roush Fenway Racing Ford of Chris Buescher was seventh, McDowell eighth, and Justin Boston drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a ninth-place finish in his Nationwide Series debut. Ross Chastain finished 10th in the No. 80 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota.

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Edition

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