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01-25-2008
TEAM NEWS: Chaffin Starts Four-Race Program at Daytona
Veteran driver Chad Chaffin has again been tapped by Key Motorsports owner Curtis W. Key, Sr. to pilot the team's primary #40 Chevrolet Silverado in selected races during the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.
Chaffin, 39, will start the process with the Chevy Silverado 250 at the Daytona International Speedway on February 15. It will be the third season in which Chaffin has driven for the team that will be running the complete NCTS schedule for the third consecutive season. Chaffin will run the next three races on the schedule as well at California, Atlanta and Martinsville after which a decision will be made on future race dates.
"Chad is a veteran, and when we called upon him last year to run the last eight races of the season to truly show how good our race trucks can be, he performed," Key commented. "Chad posted the two best finishes we have ever scored in the truck series with a seventh at Martinsville and an eight place finish in Talladega. He was my logical choice to begin the '08 season," Key added.
Chaffin was also Key's choice to drive the #40 Chevy in 2006 when Key Motorsports became a full-time team in the Craftsman Truck Series after limited activity the previous two years. That tour, however, only lasted seven races in which Chaffin qualified for only two of them. That is when the #40 Chevrolet did not have the benefit of a top 30 position in owner's points from the year before and was forced to qualify into each event.
"I had more fun driving Curtis' trucks last year than I had driving for anyone in quite a while," stated Chaffin, who in the process scored Key Motorsports' best-ever NCTS finishes with a 7th at Martinsville and an 8th at Talladega last fall.
"They (Key Motorsports) have some really good equipment and have actually made them better during this off-season. With improved motors, and Gary (crew chief Showalter) and Tommy (Director of Competition Morgan) calling the shots and overseeing the operation, there is no reason why we can't have a top 10 or top 15 truck every week. I'm really looking forward to getting this new season started," Chaffin added.
The team bypassed the first two open truck series test sessions in Daytona and Atlanta for a variety of reasons, and one of them was getting their engines re-done with the latest combinations and having the newly-mandated manifolds approved by NASCAR. Key doesn't believe that it will hinder the team's effort when the season finally begins.
"We have three proven speedway trucks that have all run up front and really good in the draft in races over the last two years at Daytona and Talladega," Key explained. "We've made some body changes to each of them that really showed up well in the wind tunnel, and with more horsepower, we should be even better in 2008. I really want to show everyone that this small, independent team can run with the big boys," Key ended.
Chaffin surpassed two personal NCTS milestones while running for Key Motorsports last year. He passed the 100 mark in career starts (he now has 102) and the $1 million mark in earnings ($1,242,718) over an 8-season span and has the opportunity to help Key commemorate his own milestone when the #40 or #44 Chevrolet (Key Motorsports owns both numbers) runs the team's 13th overall race in 2008.
That will mark Key's 100th career NASCAR race start covering two circuits (Craftsman Truck and the Nationwide Series) over an 11-year span.
"We have a chance to really show improvement this coming year and Chad (Chaffin) will be a big part of that," Key ended. He is counting on improved performances to help lure sponsorship for his team that will enter the Daytona opener and all subsequent races with a clean race truck.
"One of these days a company is going to realize that we have a good product and that this organization takes care of its sponsors. We will be making an announcement soon of a sponsor that will back us for a limited number of races this season, but we are still looking for that one big sponsor that can fund our program for the balance of the season," Key added.
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