WORK STILL TO BE DONE ON KEY MOTORSPORTS’ ENTRIES
FOLLOWING LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY TEST SESSION RESULTS

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA (May 13, 2007) – There is still work to be done on the Key Motorsports entries for next Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway here. That is the consensus coming out of the team’s Mooresville, NC race shop following last week’s open test session at the Concord, NC race track.

“We still have some things that have to be decided upon before we make our definitive set-up plans for the race, but after a slow start, we gained some steam at last week’s test and believe that we are headed in the right direction,” said team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr.

Journeyman driver Steve Park and rookie Clay Rogers piloted the two Key Motorsports Chevrolets during the 2-day session last Thursday and Friday and both made headway in the #40 and #44 machines, respectively. 

(Photo to right: CLAY ROGERS WATCHES TESTING ACTION FROM ATOP THE TEAM'S TRANSPORTER)

Both drivers had some handling issues on Thursday when Rogers and Park turned in only the 43rd and 48th best lap times during the afternoon session of the 50 trucks that got onto the race track…all in preparation for the May 18th Quaker Steak & Lube 200 that is scheduled to get the green flag at 9 p.m. following qualifying for the Nextel All-Star Challenge event.

Both made progress during the evening session with Rogers shaving three tenths of a second off his best afternoon time and gaining two miles an hour in the #44 while Park, a former Nextel Cup Series driver for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., improved by a half second and nearly four miles an hour in the #40.

With crew chief Barry Dodson and team shop foreman and former Roush Racing NASCAR Busch Series top wrench Tommy Morgan directing the efforts of Park and Rogers, respectively, the teams made some significant changes to the two race vehicles in time for Friday’s sessions and they mostly paid off with even better efforts.

Park finally moved the 40 ahead of the 44 in lap times and speed with a best effort of 31.683 and 170.438 miles per hour during Friday’s afternoon session, about a half second and 35/hundredths of a mile an hour better than Rogers.

“We worked with different carburetors and gears in an effort to gain some speed and it definitely showed that we are moving in the right direction,” said Key, who has tapped Busch Series ace Shane Huffman to drive the #40 in this week’s race. No decision has yet been reached as to whether or not Key will run the 44 in the race even though it has been entered with Mike Bliss listed as the driver.

“I just don’t know if I want to bring a second truck to the track when we come back here later this week. I may just stick with the 40 and put all of our efforts on that machine rather than enter two trucks and have to split our resources,” Key said, indicating that he would make a decision early in the week. He also indicated that if he did decide to enter the second truck that he will most likely switch drivers from Bliss, who is concentrating on his BAM Racing Nextel Cup effort, to either Park or Rogers.

“We’re definitely running as good as most of the other trucks that decided to test Friday afternoon,” Rogers said of his 44 Chevrolet. “We did discover some things that should help us improve our speed, but we were able to finally get both trucks handling well, and that is very important at this track,” he added in talking about the tricky, fast and newly paved 1.5-mile, high-banked LMS tri-oval.

In the final session of the overall test on Friday evening, both trucks ran consistent laps with Rogers and the 44 showing a slight edge on Park and the 40 by less than a tenth of a second and two hundredths of a mile an hour.

“We learned a lot, and Steve and Clay did a great job for us. We’re just hoping that we can make the changes to the 40 truck that will enable Shane (Huffman) or another driver if we elect to run the 44 to be able to run wide open and handle through the turns. If we can do that, we’ll be OK,” Key added.

Thirty-eight or thirty-nine trucks are expected to actually be in the NCTS garage area when it opens on Thursday with 36 earning starting berths. Key’s #40, 24th in the all-important owner’s point standing after the 2207 season’s first five races, is guaranteed a starting berth for being in the top 30. The 44 truck, if it is entered, will have to qualify in on time and be amongst the six best in speed during qualifying of the eight or nine trucks without guaranteed berths.