Rookie Ryan Moore's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut in the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway this past weekend was short circuited by some electrical problems that plagued the team all weekend. The end result was a DNF in the Mansfield 250 and a very disappointing, 36th place finish with a race truck that proved to be far better when it was on the racetrack.

"Despite the problems we experienced throughout the weekend, we actually had a competitive race truck", the soft-spoken Moore said. "All during the optional practice session we had on Thursday, and then again during regular practice on Friday, the truck would shut off as I drove it through the corners. I was in danger of getting run over by other trucks, so we worked hard trying to diagnose the problem and make the appropriate repairs.

"We thought we had solved the problem after changing the electrical harness, ignition boxes and the battery, but it started to happen again during the race and that just killed our chances at what should have been a good finish", he detailed.

With Friday evening's heavy downpour canceling qualifying, the #40 truck earned the 36th and final starting berth on owner points and attempts. Moore thus had to work his way from the back of the pack around Mansfield's narrow, 4/10th's mile oval and actually was running a strong seventh around lap 80 when the gremlins returned. It eventually forced him to take his race truck behind the wall on lap 125 for what seemed for good at the time.

Putting his veteran leadership and experience to the task, however, crew chief Barry Dodson was not convinced that the problem could not be fixed and finally discovered that the battery had become dislodged in its compartment in front of the left rear wheel and disrupted the connection, resulting in the shortage of power that Moore experienced. The problem was fixed and Moore was sent back out into the race on lap 191.

"We went back out hoping to pick up a few positions, but when that was no longer possible, we parked the truck for the day to keep the fenders on it and at least go home knowing that we had something for them today", Moore explained positively. "It would have been real interesting to see where we would have ended up knowing that some of the trucks that finished in the top five were ones that we were running with when our problems started. We'll just have to wait until Dover next week to show how good our equipment really is", added Moore, who will sit in the Key Motorsports truck driver's seat for now replacing veteran Chad Chaffin who saw action in all of the previous events in which the Key Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado competed.

Chaffin has elected to vacate the seat to dedicate his time to his fledgling NASCAR Nextel Cup effort.

"Ryan is a real wheel man, and it is a shame that we weren't able to keep him on the track today because he was doing one heck of a job in his first race in a truck and at this particular race track", Dodson said. "The mistake we made with the battery should not have happened, but that's water under the bridge now. We just have to prevent similar mistakes from happening again…especially with the effort that Ryan gives us behind the wheel. If we can give him a competitive truck, we know that he will give it everything he has, and that will help us forget Mansfield", Dodson added.

Moore was credited with a 36th and last finishing position, and that was difficult for him and the rest of the Key Motorsports contingent to swallow considering that the trucks driven by Johnny Benson and Joey Miller both finished in the top five. Moore was running with these trucks for position when the engine began shutting down.

The Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) development driver will now move to a more familiar track in Dover International Speedway next week in his second run in the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet. Moore has seen action twice at the Monster Mile in the old NASCAR Busch North Grand National Series. Moore finished a close second to winner Andy Santerre there last year.