Gaughan, Wyler merge truck teams

Southern Nevada will lose its most high-profile racing team at the end of the year when South Point Racing merges with another NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team and consolidates operations in North Carolina.

Michael Gaughan, whose son, Brendan, drives the No. 77 South Point Chevrolet, has joined with Jeff Wyler to form Wyler-Gaughan Racing. The team will field a pair of Toyotas in the truck series next season.

The announcement said Brendan Gaughan, 32, currently 13th in truck series points, also will drive a Toyota Camry for the new team in at least six races in NASCAR's top series, renamed the Sprint Cup Series for 2008.

Two days before the Sept. 22 truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brendan Gaughan denied a rumor that his family's truck team was considering a move to the Charlotte, N.C., area, where most NASCAR teams are based.

Gaughan, who drove in the Cup Series full time in 2004, said his family would consider fielding a Cup team "if we found the right partners and sponsors."

"My intention has always been to own a NASCAR Sprint Cup team, and fielding that effort for my son, Brendan," Michael Gaughan, who also owns South Point, said in a prepared statement.

"After examining various options, we decided partnering with Jeff Wyler and his team would be the best way of working toward that goal."

Brendan Gaughan said Monday he was disappointed with the decision.

"I'm extremely displeased the team is leaving Las Vegas, but my dad believes it will do better in North Carolina."

Gaughan would not comment further.

A South Point Racing publicist said the 25 employees at the team's headquarters in the industrial park adjacent to Las Vegas Motor Speedway would be given the option of moving with the team to North Carolina.

Jack Sprague, the three-time truck series champion, will not be with the team next year, and no driver has been named to replace him in Wyler Racing's No. 60 Toyota Tundra.

Sprague is 10th in the truck series standings with one victory this year.

Gaughan has two top-five finishes.

• ATLANTA FUEL ISSUES -- NASCAR conceded that water got into the fuel supply of more than two cars during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, apparently leading to a crash that took out several top contenders in the closing laps.

Denny Hamlin was leading the Pep Boys Auto 500 with three laps to go when his car stalled while taking the green flag after a caution period. Martin Truex, who led the most laps Sunday, smashed into the back of Hamlin's car and finished 31st. Hamlin slipped to 24th.

"There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," said John Darby, NASCAR's Nextel Cup director. "I can't tell you the exact number. It's more than two and less than 43 at the moment."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.