Las Vegas’ Brendan Gaughan qualifies for Daytona 500

His Twitter post shortly climbing out of his car said it all:

“WE ARE IN THE DAYTONA 500!!! Holy freakin cow!!!”

Las Vegas’ Brendan Gaughan was ecstatic after posting the 33rd-fastest speed of 189.294 mph in the No. 75 Beard Oil Chevrolet for Sunday’s running of the Daytona 500. As the quickest of NASCAR’s six noncharter teams and drivers attempting to make the race Sunday, Gaughan is assured a spot in the 40-car field.

The lineup will be set following twin 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday.

It will be the second time the 41-year-old Gaughan, a regular in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series, has raced in the Daytona 500. He started 17th and finished 19th in 2004 driving for Penske-Jasper Racing.

Gaughan’s inclusion will add to Las Vegas’ presence in the annual season-opening race as brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch will be making their 16th and 12th starts, respectively. Kyle Busch posted the 11th-fastest qualifying speed (191.767 mph) Sunday while older brother Kurt was 22nd (191.420).

After his qualifying effort, Gaughan praised ECR Engines and his Richard Childress Racing crew for providing the horsepower and support that will enable him to compete in stock car racing’s marquee event after a 13-year hiatus.

His team, Beard Motorsports, was formed in 2014 and will be making its Cup Series debut. The car owner is Mark Beard of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a former driver in the Midwest-based ARCA series who had a couple of Xfinity starts during the 1980s.

Elliott Sadler was the other open driver to qualify Sunday. Two additional noncharter drivers will be added to the Daytona 500 field after Thursday’s qualifying races.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.