CLAY ROGERS BELIEVES HE’S READY FOR GOOD MICHIGAN RUN
AND SEES KEY MOTORSPORTS TURNING THE COMPETITION CORNER

You would think that a driver who saw his last race cut short by engine problems might have an axe to grind, but for Clay Rogers, nothing could be further from the truth. In essence, the still rookie-classified pilot of the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado sees his race team turning the competition corner as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series treks to Michigan International Speedway this Saturday for the running of the Michigan 200.

“We had a really good race truck last week at Texas, and the guys really seem to be getting better at this coil binding stuff,” said Rogers, who has seen action in a handful of NCTS races since 2005. Saturday’s race at MIS will be his third for Key Motorsports so far in 2007.

“I know how I ran and the kind of equipment I had the last time I drove at Michigan (2005), and I was able to run with the likes of a Ron Hornaday. The equipment I’m in now is so much better, and had we not had the issue with the motor late in the race last weekend, I know we had a top ten finish. I’m expecting the same kind of run this week,” Rogers claimed.

Part of the confidence Rogers is displaying comes from the MIS track itself, one that he says offers some advantages that tracks like Texas do not.

“I really like that race track,” Rogers said. “It’s so wide that you can pretty much go anywhere you want to make a pass, and if we can suck up good in the draft, I know we can be competitive.

“If you have trouble catching the draft at Michigan, it can be a long day, but based of how far this Key Motorsports team has come in our set-ups and the adjustments Gary (Crew Chief Showalter) and Tommy (Director of Competition Morgan) can make to make the truck better, I have a good feeling for this weekend,” added Rogers, who has posted finishes of 21st at Kansas under the old Key Motorsports regime, 16th at Mansfield after running second and third for more than 50 laps and then the disappointing 25th place effort last Friday night in Texas when he was just outside of the top 10 with about 40 laps to go when he lost power.

As for being able to work with other drivers to take advantage of the draft at the sweeping, 2-mile, D-shaped oval, Rogers doesn’t see that as a problem.

“I know I haven’t run a lot of races in the Truck Series, but I have run with many of these guys in other forms of racing and I don’t think that drafting with me is going to be an issue. If we all work together, everyone is going to benefit from it, so I don’t think I will have any problems finding partners to run with,” he added.

“I had one heck of a race truck at Texas, and what this race team needs now is a good, solid run and to be running at the end,” Rogers said. “If we can finish the race and make the right adjustments, I’m confident that we can do something special to get the #40 back up in the points,” he added.

After starting the 2007 campaign with veteran Mike Bliss behind the wheel for the season’s first four races, the Key Motorsports #40 had shown as high as 15th in owner points but has steadily dropped to a season low of 28th after Texas. The good thing, however, is that a total of just 96 points separates 28th place from the 20th position in the owner points standing with the #40 only trailing the next seven trucks by 56, 53, 52, 34, 23, 12 and 7 points, respectively.

After Showalter and a bunch of new employees started working for team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr., the #40 had run very well only to have some gremlins interfere.

The team’s hoping-for-rain strategy at Mansfield to stay out and not pit early in the race backfired and resulted in a less than anticipated 16th place finish for Rogers, while at Dover a missing lug nut and speeding penalty on pit road led directly to nullifying a top 15 finish there for driver Shane Huffman. This was then followed by the engine woes for Clay at Texas.

“Competition is keen for sure and one good run and some of the same bad luck we have experienced by some of the trucks ahead of us can change the standings a whole bunch,” said Showalter. “But what we have to do is worry about our truck and be running well enough at the end to get that good finish. We have what it takes to get that done,” Showalter exclaimed.