In one of the most bizarre NASCAR Nationwide Series races of the season, Brendan Gaughan battled back from not one but three mistakes to claim victory.
Without the help of a late caution, he didn’t have a shot at the win unless Alex Tagliani ran out of fuel. Under the yellow-flag, Tagliani did run out. That would have handed Gaughan the easy win had it been under green. Instead, he had to work for the glory on the last restart when the exuberant Chase Elliott gave him a run for his money.
The finish of the race was only part of the day’s action which featured a battle with Mother Nature despite having rain tires at the ready on pit road. A slight mist fell before the start of the race. It was a light rain which didn’t allow for rain tires, since the track was not wet enough. This created a holding pattern right off the bat which delayed the start by less than half an hour.
When the event got underway, it was on dry tires and Sam Hornish Jr. proved quickly that he was the class of the field. He led almost every lap from the get-go until the first rain caution came on lap 25. NASCAR mandated teams put on rain tires as they came down pit road. This move shook-up the front-runners as Hornish struggled with the racing in the rain.
Road course ace Tagliani excelled under the wet conditions as he led up until the last caution came with two laps remaining. He ran out of fuel shortly after the field slowed down which handed the lead to Gaughan.
Some drivers opted to pit under the caution, however most stayed out and put themselves in a great place for the restart. Elliott did get the first lead, but the limited experience Gaughan mentioned he had with rain tires allowed the veteran to retake the lead quickly. A hard-charging Tagliani bounced back to second by the time the checkered-flag flew.
The win came in Gaughan’s 98th start in the Nationwide Series. He does have eight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories to his name. Six of which came in the 2003 season.
Varying pit road decisions under the last caution allowed some smaller teams and drivers to score stellar finishes. Among the most notable were Kevin O’Connell in third, J.J Yeley fourth, Jeremy Clements sixth, Andy Lally seventh, Landon Cassill eighth and Mike Bliss tenth.
The Nationwide Series is back in action next Friday night at the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY.
Results via ESPN.com
| POS | DRIVER | CAR | MANUFACTURER | LAPS | MONEY | START | LED | PTS | BONUS | PENALTY |
| 1 | Brendan Gaughan |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 5 | 8 | 47 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2 | Alex Tagliani |  |
Ford | 53 | 1 | 19 | 43 | 1 | 0 | |
| 3 | Kevin O’Connell |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 26 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Chase Elliott |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 12 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | J.J. Yeley |  |
Dodge | 53 | 22 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Jeremy Clements |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 13 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Andy Lally |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 10 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Landon Cassill |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 25 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Elliott Sadler |  |
Toyota | 53 | 11 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Mike Bliss |  |
Toyota | 53 | 17 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 0 | |
| 11 | Matt DiBenedetto |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 19 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. |  |
Toyota | 53 | 4 | 25 | 34 | 2 | 0 | |
| 13 | Regan Smith |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | Kenny Habul |  |
Toyota | 53 | 20 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | |
| 15 | Carlos Contreras |  |
Toyota | 53 | 35 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | Brian Scott |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | James Buescher |  |
Toyota | 53 | 18 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | |
| 18 | Chris Buescher |  |
Ford | 53 | 9 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | |
| 19 | Ty Dillon |  |
Chevrolet | 53 | 7 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | Eric McClure |  |
Toyota | 53 | 23 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | |
| 21 | Ryan Reed |  |
Ford | 53 | 14 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | |
| 22 | Ryan Sieg |  |
Chevrolet | 52 | 27 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | |
| 23 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |  |
Chevrolet | 52 | 36 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | Justin Marks |  |
Chevrolet | 52 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | |
| 25 | Dakoda Armstrong |  |
Ford | 51 | 16 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | Dylan Kwasniewski |  |
Chevrolet | 49 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | Trevor Bayne |  |
Ford | 41 | 15 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | |
| 28 | Tanner Berryhill |  |
Dodge | 39 | 28 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |
| 29 | Bobby Reuse |  |
Chevrolet | 34 | 31 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | |
| 30 | Joey Gase |  |
Chevrolet | 22 | 34 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | Tommy Joe Martins |  |
Dodge | 17 | 29 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | Stanton Barrett |  |
Ford | 10 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | Derrike Cope |  |
Chevrolet | 4 | 38 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | Ryan Ellis |  |
Chevrolet | 2 | 24 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| 35 | Carl Long |  |
Chevrolet | 2 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 36 | Jeff Green |  |
Toyota | 1 | 30 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | Tim Schendel |  |
Chevrolet | 1 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 38 | Kevin Lepage |  |
Dodge | 0 | 37 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |