William Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975) is an American former professional racing driver who has competed in off-road and stock cars.

Gaughan competed full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2009–2010 and 2014–2017, followed by a part-time Cup schedule from 2017 to his final season in 2020.

Born in Los Angeles, California but a long-term resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, Gaughan attended Georgetown University and played collegiate basketball as a walk-on for the Hoyas with friend and former Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson.

Gaughan earned All-Conference honors as a placekicker on Georgetown's NCAA Division I-AA football team.

[2] A unique individual, he even sported cornrows during a race at Dover International Speedway during the 2005 Craftsman Truck Series season.

[4] In 2011, Gaughan appeared as a spokesperson for the South Point Casino in an episode of the History Channel series Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy.

Gaughan founded City Lights Shine, a distillery, is involved in his family's South Point Casino business, and also owns New Wave Cleaning Solutions.

In 1995, he moved to SODA (Short-course Off-road Drivers Association) series driving a Dodge Ram for the Walker Evans team.

[7] His multiple wins[6] there solidified his reputation as one of the premier off-road racers at the time with his most memorable battle coming between himself and future NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson in 1996.

However, Johnson's truck succumbed to crash damage from a previous incident with Jimmie Crowder and Gaughan took his first win at Crandon in a pro category.

[8] Gaughan made his NASCAR debut in a Truck Series race in 1997 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In 1998, he was part of the Coca-Cola 500 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan and was involved in a crash that also collected Bobby Hamilton.

He also ran seven times in the Truck Series for Bill McAnally and TKO Motorsports, and had two top-five finishes.

62 Orleans-sponsored Dodge for his father Michael, and he won six times, including twice at Texas Motor Speedway, giving him four consecutive wins at the track.

He was replaced at the end of the season by Travis Kvapil, after team owner Roger Penske was not satisfied with Gaughan's progress in the sport.

Starting with the September 23 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the team began sporting a new livery of the South Point Casino in which his father, Michael, is the owner.

In 2007, the South Point team switched to Chevrolet Silverados, where Gaughan returned to the manufacturer which he drove during his efforts in the AutoZone West championships.

But the deal fell through and SPR was forced to close, leaving Gaughan and 10–12 of his crew members without a team.

He also competed in the November Phoenix Cup race for TRG Motorsports where he finished 43rd after a first-lap crash.

[11] Gaughan won his first Nationwide Series race at Road America in June 2014 after Alex Tagliani ran out of gas before the final caution.

He was very emotional about his win as he was running a car dedicated to his deceased grandfather John Jackie Gaughan.

In the Cup Series, after a 28th-place finish to begin the season in Atlanta, Gaughan failed to qualify with Premium Motorsports at Martinsville suffering his first DNQ of the year.

[14] He finished the 500 in 11th place, earning him starts with Beard at the three remaining Cup Series restrictor-plate races.

Gaughan then had a dismal first quarter of the Xfinity season, with many mechanical failures and several instances of being swept up in accidents.

[18] On February 9, 2020, Gaughan made the field at the Daytona 500 by posting the second fastest qualifying speed of all the non-charter teams (188.945 mph; 33rd overall).

* Season still in progress 1 Ineligible for series points (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.