TEAM NEWS: Shepherd to Pilot Second Truck for Key Motorsports
02-21-2008 3:54 pm
Like any other sport, teams in NASCAR racing competition don't have much time to think about the past event or dwell on what might have been when there were problems. Attention quickly moves to the next race on the schedule, and that often provides an opportunity to forget and move on. Such is the case with the Key Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series organization and driver Chad Chaffin. Having crashed out early in last Friday night's 2008 season opener in Daytona, Chaffin and his Key Motorsports mates have already moved on and all of the concentration is now centered on this weekend's race at the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. "The one thing about this sport, and pretty much any sport for that matter, is that you have to move on and get ready for the next event. It does no good to think about what might have been had the problems we encountered last weekend not happened. Our total focus now is on the California race that gives us the opportunity to rebound," Chaffin explained. Chaffin will again pilot the Key Motorsports #40 Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday afternoon's San Bernardino County 200 that is scheduled to take the green flag at noon, Pacific Time. Key Motorsports will also bring out its #44 Chevy for the first time this season for the California race and has hired Morgan Shepherd to drive that machine. "Everyone knows we had a really good race truck in Daytona, but all anyone will remember is that we got caught up in that wreck with a bunch of other trucks early in the race and didn't finish. We can't change that result, but we can make most people forget it by running well and coming away with a good finish in California," said Chaffin, who will be making his fifth NCTS start at the 2-mile, D-shaped California Speedway oval. One of Chaffin's best outings in Fontana came in his very first season with Key Motorsports in 2006 when the Murfreesboro, Tennessee driver qualified 16th despite having only three practice laps, led the race for a half dozen laps and had a 14th place finish in his sights only to lose four spots on the final lap when his #40 Chevy was squeezed into the fourth turn wall by another truck. Chaffin's best career finish in California was an 11th place effort in 2004, and despite a 28th place effort in 2005 when he dropped out late in the race with engine problems, Chaffin is still averaging an 18th place finish there. All of his qualifying runs have been of the top 20 variety with his worst being a 17th place starting berth in 2003. "I really like the place," Chaffin said about the California Speedway track. "It's wide and fast, and if your race truck is handling good, you can really crack some good laps and be competitive. That is what we are aiming for this trip, and I know that I will have a better piece to race with than I had two years ago," he added. Chaffin will be driving a race truck that Key Motorsports Director of Competition Tommy Morgan says is the best down force truck the team has in its inventory. "It's an older chassis that the team has had for a few years and has only been run one time," said Morgan. Crew Chief Gary Showalter said that this truck has a new body on it and has the capability of giving Chaffin one of the best machines that he has ever run at California. "We should be a good," Showalter exclaimed. Shepherd will steer the team's #44 race truck for the third time in his distinguished NASCAR career, having qualified for races in California and Atlanta last season. He posted a 34th place finish at California in 2007.