Brendan Gaughan – a part-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series — has become the second NASCAR driver to test positive for COVID-19, Gaughan told SiruisXM NASCAR Radio’s Danielle Trotta.
In a discussion with [Danielle] Trotta Wednesday on SiruisXM NASCAR Radio, Gaughan revealed that he had received a positive test result last Friday, and that his specific case of COVID-19 has been mostly asymptomatic, with the exception of what Gaughan said felt like “just a head cold.”
ICYMI: @Brendan62 tells @DanielleTrotta that he has tested positive for the Coronavirus and is currently in quarantine #SXMOnTrack pic.twitter.com/VwmjD0XQfw
— SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) (@SiriusXMNASCAR) July 15, 2020
Earlier in the year, the 45-year old Gaughan, announced that 2020 would be his final season racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and that he would only be running the four superspeedway races – two at Talladega and two at Daytona — for Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 team. In two races this season, Gaughan has notched a top-ten finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, as well as a 31st-place finish at Talladega in June.
In two starts this season, Gaughan notched a top-ten finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February, as well as a 31st-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in June. Gaughan’s third race of the season is scheduled to be on August 29th, when the NASCAR Cup Series wras up the regular season at Daytona International Speedway, the site of Gaughan’s top-ten finish.
At the time of publishing, neither Gaughan nor Beard Motorsports have officially mentioned if there would be any changes to the team’s plans for Daytona.
7x Champion Jimmie Johnson was the first driver to test positive for COVID-19, requiring him to sit out the NASCAR Cup Series event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but two negative tests more than 24 hours apart allowed Johnson to return to competition the following week at Kentucky Speedway.
Dale Jarrett, analyst for NBC Sports, has also tested positive for COVID-19 in recent months, but has since made a full recovery and returned to the track with NBC Sports at Indianapolis.
