Key Motorsports Experiences Tough Weekend In California, Bliss Finishes 27th In Stater Bros. 300 At Auto Club Speedway

The Key Motorsports crew unloaded a fast Bad Boy Buggies/Buck Commander Chevrolet for driver Mike Bliss Friday morning at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, only to have bad luck strike early in the first NASCAR Nationwide Series practice session that would plague the team throughout the weekend.

"Our problems started right off the bat in the first practice," said Key Motorsports crew chief Gary Showalter. "We couldn't keep it running more than two or three laps, the car wasn't getting any fuel."

Key Motorsports crew members worked diligently to find and correct the fuel related problem, resulting in Bliss getting six total laps of practice before qualifying Saturday morning. The fuel problem returned when Bliss took to the track for his qualifying laps, the car would not come up to speed forcing Bliss to abort his qualifying attempt, regulating the #40 to the 42nd starting position.

Bliss knew he had a fast car when the green flag flew to begin the Stater Bros. 300 Saturday afternoon, moving up 24 spots to the 18th position within the first 40 laps of the event.

"The car took off at the start of the race and we were able to pass quite a few cars," commented Bliss.

A miscalculation of fuel mileage would end the hopes of a good finish when Bliss ran out of gas coming down the front stretch on lap 69, putting the #40 three laps behind the race leaders.

"We didn't get to do a fuel run in practice and drained all of the fuel out of the car while we were locating the problem," explained a disappointed Showalter. "That contributed to our miscalculating the fuel mileage which cost us a good finish. It's unfortunate because we had a good car for this race."

The Key Motorsports Bad Boy Buggies/Buck Commander Chevrolet #40 with driver Mike Bliss completed 150 laps of the 152 lap race and finished 27th.

"The car drove good, throughout the whole race really," said Bliss. "We may have had a top 10 or 12 car if we hadn't run out of gas. It is a shame, we had such a good car. Hopefully our luck will change in Vegas next week."

Mike Bliss will drive the #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet in the Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Saturday, February 27, 2010.