HUFFMAN HOPING RETURN TO KEY MOTORSPORTS RACE TRUCK
WILL HELP GET TEAM BACK ON THEIR COMPETITIVE WAYS

Shane Huffman has only been racing in the upper levels of NASCAR for a little less than a year, but the Hickory, North Carolina pilot sounds more like a seasoned veteran as he returns to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend for Key Motorsports.

Huffman, driver of the #88 Chevrolets in the NASCAR Busch Series for the team owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., will drive the #40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet Silverado at the Milwaukee Mile on Friday night in the Toyota Tundra 200. Following his solid, fifth place finish in the Busch Series race at the Kentucky Speedway last Saturday night, Huffman is looking forward to the engagement in trying to right the Key Motorsports ship.

Picture Right : The primary and back-up trucks for this weekend's race in Milwaukee being prepared.

Over the last six races, the #40 Chevy has fallen from 15th to 29th in owner points. The truck, with a variety of drivers behind the wheel, has run well for the most part every week but has suffered mishaps that resulted in disappointing finishes.

One of them, at Dover International Speedway in Delaware on June 1, Huffman was also the driver and had a race truck that should have finished in the top 15. However, two pit road penalties and a thrown alternator belt cost the team 19 laps and relegated the truck to a 24th place finish. Huffman knows that his Key Motorsports mates provide trucks capable of much better finishes and hopes to show it in Milwaukee.

“Curtis (team owner Key), Gary (crew chief Showalter) and all the guys in the shop have really made a lot of effort to improve this program here, and despite the finishes, it has shown the last few weeks,” Huffman said. He was referring to the Dover event and the races in which friend Clay Rogers drove the #40.

After running second for more than 50 laps, Rogers turned in a 16th place performance at Mansfield but then followed with a pair of 25th place efforts at Texas and Michigan. Rogers had a top five truck at Texas before suffering motor problems with 45 laps to go and then had to overcome handling problems at MIS last weekend.

“There has been a lot of hard work and dedication put into this race team, and though one of my objectives is to get some lap time in Milwaukee in preparation for the Busch Series race on Saturday, I think we’ll have the opportunity to run good Friday night also,” he added, and that should help the #40 start heading back up the standings. 

Picture Left: Daniel Morgan working inside the motor compartment of the primary Key Motorsports race truck for the upcoming Milwaukee race

Huffman, an exceptional short track racer who dominated races in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series before being plucked by Earnhardt, Jr. to drive his Busch Series car halfway into the 2006 season, has never competed at the Milwaukee Mile, but he does not see that as a disadvantage.

“All the flat tracks are basically the same, so it seems like in my racing career. You just have to concentrate on the truck cutting and rolling through the center of the corners, especially at the wider tracks like Milwaukee….at least that is what I’ve been told by other drivers. If we can do that, we’ll be OK,” Huffman stated. Huffman’s has run two other races on basically flat, short race tracks for Key Motorsports over the last two seasons and had excellent runs going in both of them.

At Martinsville Speedway last October, Huffman had gained eight positions to the 16th position and was waiting until the final 50 laps to begin racing on that tricky half-mile paper clip oval when something broke in the motor. Then at Phoenix in November, Huffman had the fastest truck over the final 40 laps on that 1-mile venue and was headed towards a possible top five finish when a left rear tire went down with just seven laps to go.

If Huffman’s past performances can thus blend nicely with the preparation of the race team, Huffman may very well be on the money with his less-than-concerned feelings about running on a strange race track.

For Showalter and new Key Motorsports Director of Competition Tommy Morgan, the team’s preparation hasn’t changed at all since replacing the previous shop management group, and they are excited about this weekend’s chances.

“We are all working together to give our drivers the best possible equipment to drive, and though the finishes don’t necessarily show it, we know we have had some good pieces for them most every race,” Showalter said. “We’re anxious to see what Shane can do for us in Milwaukee, and he will have a good truck under him. Our luck has to change for the better sooner or later,” he added.