June is shaping up to be a special month for Brendan Gaughan. After winning Class 1 at the Baja 500 last Saturday, he will now join forces with his old boss Bill McAnally for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Coronado Naval Base on June 19.

Gaughan’s last NASCAR start was the 2020 YellaWood 500 at Talladega, where he finished 35th after being taken out in the Big One on Lap 108. He stayed involved in the sport over the following years as Beard Motorsports’ vice president of racing operations, with whom he had been doing a part-time Cup Series slate from 2017 to 2020 at superspeedways.

He hasn’t run a Truck Series race since finishing seventh in the 2013 standings for Richard Childress Racing. Gaughan was a regular in the Trucks during the 2000s, competing for the family-owned Orleans Racing and scoring eight wins. His 2003 title campaign controversially ended with a fourth in points when he crashed out with an extra truck entered by rival Ultra Motorsports, leading to Gaughan’s infamous “Jimmy Smith can kiss my ass” sound bite.

Gaughan moved up to the Nationwide Series in 2014, running four seasons with RCR and scoring two wins with a best points finish of eighth the first year. After placing tenth in the 2017 Xfinity standings, he scaled back his calendar to the aforementioned Cup slate.

In addition to his four Cup starts in 2019, Gaughan returned to his desert racing roots in Class 1 and won his class at that year’s Baja 1000. His time back in Baja has been one of many highs and many lows, the nadir by far being when he retired from every SCORE race in 2022. Since then, however, he’s been riding high: he won the 1000 again last year and is currently two-for-two in 2026 with Class 1 victories at the San Felipe 250 and Baja 500. At the latter on Saturday, Gaughan initially finished second to Loren Healy but was promoted to the win thanks to a time credit.

Besides his own racing, he’s also been helping his son Ryland get his start in off-road. Ryland won the Mint 400’s Youth 250/200 and 170 Open combination race in 2025.

His NASCAR return comes with the owner who helped him make a name in stock cars after a successful short course career. Bill McAnally Racing was a giant in the NASCAR Winston West Series, with Gaughan claiming the 2000 and 2001 titles in the team’s iconic #16 NAPA car.

The two also reunited for a K&N West start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s dirt track in 2018. Gaughan finished fifth against competition that included fellow off-road racers-turned-stock car drivers Sheldon Creed and Hailie Deegan.

For San Diego, Gaughan will race the #20 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. His family’s South Point Hotel & Casino, a deeply-rooted name in the desert racing community, will sponsor the truck as it did for much of his NASCAR career. While NAS North Island is a Navy base, Gaughan will also have the logo of the United States Air Force Combat Control Team on the truck bed since he’s an honorary squadron commander; the unit was previously on his Nationwide car at the 2014 Virginia 529 College Savings 250.

“This is so cool to come back and race in a truck again for Bill,” said Gaughan. “We’ve got a ton of history together, tons of great memories, and this is going to be something we’ll talk about for a long time.

“Ever since I heard the race at Coronado was going to happen, I knew I wanted to run something, and I’m just glad Bill and I were able to make this happen. This is a great chance for the NASCAR community to celebrate and recognize our military with a unique event, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Coronado, whose runway previously hosted the Stadium Super Trucks, is a new addition to the NASCAR schedule. Gaughan’s old friend and short course rival Jimmie Johnson will also do the Truck race.

Featured image credit: Brenna Goerke