STACY COMPTON TO NOW DRIVE THE KEY MOTORSPORTS #40 CHEVY
IN THE O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 200 TRUCK SERIES RACE IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE (June 29, 2007) – Key Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team owner Curtis W. Key, Sr. announced here this afternoon that his recently signed practice driver, veteran Stacy Compton, will now practice, qualify and drive the #40 Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 at the Memphis Motorsports Park.

Compton was originally hired to simply practice the race truck and get it set up for Chad Chaffin to qualify and race on Saturday – replacing Brad Keselowski who opted out of his practice-only arrangement with Key Motorsports on Wednesday to drive the #9 Team ASE Toyota for Germain Motorcars after that team’s veteran driver, Ted Musgrave, was suspended for one race by NASCAR for his actions in last weekend’s race in Milwaukee.

Chaffin, originally signed to return to Key Motorsports to drive its race trucks beginning with the Memphis event, agreed last Saturday to drive the #49 PVA.org NASCAR Nextel Cup Series car for BAM Racing at Loudon, NH this week thus limiting his availability in Memphis. That did play a significant role in Key’s decision to stay with Compton the entire weekend.

“Chad would have had to go to great expense to fly by private jet to get to Memphis, and it would have also turned his attention away from his Cup deal,” Key explained. “In addition, we needed to have a driver totally focused on our efforts this week to try and get our team back on track and running well to give us a shot at a good finish and the chance to improve our position in the points. Making the decision to remain with Stacy throughout the weekend was the best thing to do for everyone concerned,” Key added.

Compton, who is sharing the NCTS ride in the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #09 Zaxby’s Chicken Restaurant Ford this season with Joey Clanton, was not scheduled to race this weekend, thus making him available to assist Key.

“Stacy is a veteran in every sense of the word, and we know he can help us,” said crew chief Gary Showalter. “Chad was also a good fit for us, but it would have been very difficult for us to make both drivers comfortable in the same race truck considering their size differences and the amount of time we would have had to make seat adjustments in the truck – then there was the cost of getting him here. Curtis made the right decision to stay with one driver, and I think Stacy will do a good job for us,” Showalter added.

The 40-year-old Compton has raced extensively in all three of NASCAR’s top touring circuits and boasts nearly 100 career NCTS starts. He won twice in 1998 and has earned nine poles and enjoyed his best overall season in 1999 when he finished fourth in the Series’ championship driver point’s race. That season Compton posted nearly half of his career top five finishes and 17 of his nearly 50 top ten efforts despite failing to win a race.

He has earned more than $4 million in 88 Nextel Cup Series races between 1996 and 2003 and raced full-time in the Busch Series in 2005 and 2006 before being moved back to the trucks by Wood Bothers/JTG Racing this season. He has shared the #09 Zaxby’s Chicken Restaurants Ford ride with driver Joey Clanton thus far this season and finished a season-best second recently at Dover.