Chad McCumbee and MRD Motorsports couldn't wait to get to Kentucky Speedway to get back on track with their early season successes.  The team has excelled on the 1.5 mile tracks on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule and really felt like they could capitalize in the Bluegrass State.  Chad and Team MRD had finished the first half of the year inside the top ten in the Championship chase and didn't see any reason why they would continue to march forward in the standings.

The team unloaded the #8 Malcomsom Construction Silverado on Friday for the first of two practice sessions.  However, their optimism for a good run was put to the test as they struggled through the first session trying to find speed and getting a good handle on the truck.  During the practice break,
they made some major changes which improved the overall speed of the truck, but still left Chad uncomfortable over the bumps in turns three and four that has really set the Kentucky track out from the rest of the 1.5 mile tracks.  The team continued to make improvements and during one of their
mock qualifying runs, they posted the 2nd quickest lap of the day, leaving the team optimistic for their qualifying chances on Saturday.  They didn't quite back up that time during the qualifying session, but they earned the 10th starting spot on the grid for Saturday night's race.

"This qualifying result is all about the crew.  We really struggled yesterday and they kept throwing everything at it to make it better. Kentucky is one of those love or hate type of tracks.  The bumps make it unique.  If you are hooked up over that section, it makes for a really good day.  If you're not, it is one of the longest days you can have. We've made some good progress, but we are still a few adjustments away from getting that win," commented McCumbee on the qualifying effort.

At the drop of the green, McCumbee quickly made progress through the field and was as high as fifth after two laps of racing.  However, while trying to pass one of the competitors for fifth, the truck below him got loose and drove him up the track, causing Chad to lose a few spots. Still, the #8 Silverado was able to maintain inside the top 10 until their first pit stop of the night on lap 22.  The team took four tires and made some adjustments to the chassis.  But, when the field got back to racing, Chad was one of a few drivers that began having trouble with a set of tires. He began losing some spots and Chad had his hands full trying to keep his early race pace.  After the next pit stops, Chad restarted near the end of the top 20 and was back inside the top 10 after a few green flag laps.  The team maintained until the final pit stop of the night.  They opted for four tires and fuel, hoping this strategy would net them a safe top ten. However, an incident between two other competitors left Chad as the innocent victim.  The team was unable to fix the major damage to the truck and was left with their first DNF of the season.

"We really fought hard all day.  We didn't unload like we thought we should have, but this MRD Team never gave up.  Randy Dean and Gene Wachtel threw everything in their power at this Silverado and it slowly got better through the race.  Towards the end, I was fast enough to run in the top five, but we
just lost so much track position with a bad set of tires early in the race. I just hate the race ended for us like it did.  There was nothing I could do.  The 51 truck (Kyle Busch) got inside of me and it looked like the 59 (Ted Musgrave) got into the back of him and caused him to move up the track into me.  It was a racing deal, but I hated to see us wreck this truck.  I'm positive the boys will put together another strong truck, but we don't have the resources like other teams do to wreck and rebuild race trucks," stated McCumbee on the Kentucky Finish.

As a result of the finish, Chad fell outside of the top ten in the point standings for the 2008 Driver's Championship race as he at the rest of the Craftsman Truck Series head to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Power Stroke Diesel 200 at the O'Reilly Raceway Park.  Chad and Team MRD look to show off the improvements they have made in their short track program and to increase their standings in the Championship chase.  The race is scheduled for July 25, 2008 and will be televised live on Speed starting at 8:00pm EST.

Chad had this to say about Indianapolis: "I'm looking for a Top 10.  We have made good strides in our short track program not only in race setups, but qualifying.  I feel good about starting up front and getting this team its first top 10 run on a short track.  If we keep with the same improvements that we made on the past short track races, we should be running up front.   We need a good run to get back into this point's battle as we start the second half of the year."