25TH PLACE ATLANTA TRUCK RACE FINISH PROVIDING BABY STEPS
TOWARDS GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT IN KEY MOTORSPORTS CAMP

HAMPTON, G EORGIA (March 8, 2008) – A 25th place finish may not be something for any race team to write home about, but for Key Motorsports and driver Chad Chaffin, such an effort at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday night did show signs that things may be turning around.

Chaffin posted that 25th place finish in the American Commercial Lines 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event that was able to complete all 130 laps during a day of heavy rain that at one time during the race forced stoppage of the 2008 season’s third of 25 races.

After crashing out of the season opener in Daytona for a 36th and last place effort, and then finishing three laps down at California and a 28th place performance, Chaffin’s 25th place fete at AMS, two laps off the pace, showed some signs of progress. (pictured right: Steaz Energy Drink, a Key Motorsports product sponsor, stepped up as an associate sponsor for the Atlanta race. Regional Manager Ron Germain and guests pose proudly by the product logo on the deck lid of the race truck.)

“The truck actually ran pretty good most of the night. We just were forced during the middle of the race to run on older tires and it ended up costing us. Once we had the same rubber on the truck as the other teams, I could run with them for 10 laps or so, so you have to say that we’re working out the kinks and getting better,” Chaffin explained after the race.

Chaffin qualified the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado in the 26th spot in the 32-truck starting field, but in the initial lap alone improved five positions to 21st. It took just three more laps for the #40 to break into the top 20 for the first time and things were looking up.

“The truck was good at the start, but as the tires got hotter, the truck started running a little loose exiting the corners, so that kept me from moving up more,” Chaffin stated.

A good pit stop on lap 20 during the race’s first caution period moved Chaffin’s Chevy back out onto the race track in the 18th position and he ran no worse than 20th through the next 20 laps when the second yellow flag flew for rookie Justin Marks’ spin down the front stretch.

At that juncture, most of the lead lap trucks pitted and put on a second set of fresh rubber, but lacking a set of tires, crew chief Gary Showalter decided to hold back his last set of sticker tires and ordered just a fuel stop with a slight chassis adjustment on the #40 and sent Chaffin back onto the track in the 18th position. That would be the best position it would have for the remainder of the night.

The race was restarted on lap 45 and the next 20 laps went without incident and under green flag conditions. Running on old tires, the #40 began to gradually slide back in the field, eventually falling back to the 25th position and finally losing a lap to then race leader Ron Hornaday on lap 73, eight laps past the race’s halfway mark. (pictured right: Jeff O'Farrell (left) and crew chief Gary Showalter installing brake duct tubing in race truck.)

“There was no way that I could keep up with the trucks that had fresher tires, even though the truck was handling good, so we made the best of the situation until we could pit again,” explained Chaffin, who finally did get that new set of tires on lap 90 during a green flag stop in which he lost a second lap and fell to 26th on the grid.

At that point, Chaffin was running on the same lap as the trucks driven by David Starr, Andy Lally, Donny Lia, Marc Mitchell, Jason White and Shelby Howard, and when the race was red flagged for 15 minutes following a brief rain shower, a decision was made by Showalter to pit Chaffin as soon as the race resumed under the yellow flag to put on a used by colder set of tires in an effort to give Chad a shot at making up some spots over the final five laps.

Chaffin was successful in getting past just one truck, the Chevrolet of Howard, in gaining the 25th place finish.

“I was encouraged by the way the truck responded late in the race, and Gary (Showalter) told me that it came with air pressure changes he had made. Like I said before, we could run with most of the trucks with fresh tires but were sitting ducks without them,” Chaffin ended.

The #40 did improve one position in the owner’s point standing and will enter the March 29th race in Martinsville, VA just 30 points from the all-important 30th position that determines the guaranteed starters for each race.

“We tested our Martinsville truck for two days a couple of weeks ago at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida with an upcoming driver, and we learned a lot about the car. We had it running really, really well before we left there, so we have a good idea of what we want to do at Martinsville,” said Showalter.

The #40 is scheduled to test its Martinsville truck again next week at the open NCTS test at Martinsville but with Chaffin behind the wheel, so this added work should give the team another chance at improving the race truck even more heading into the race. Based on the baby steps the team is taking to improve its performance, the Martinsville race becomes even more important.

“We’re not going to quit until we have fully turned that corner,” Showalter promised.