CHAD CHAFFIN SEES MARTINSVILLE TRUCK SERIES RACE
AS THE TURN-AROUND TIME FOR KEY MOTORSPORTS

MOORESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA - Driver Chad Chaffin and his Key Motorsports team have not had a whole lot to celebrate over the course of the first three races on the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit. However, the Murfreesboro, Tennessee veteran sees next weekend’s Kroger 250 at the Martinsville Speedway as the race that could turn everyone’s fortunes around.

The #40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet has carried limited sponsorship to date and has had to compete with the odds greatly stacked against it. Not holding a guaranteed starting spot for this season’s first four races as a result of not finishing in the top 30 in owner points in 2005, Chaffin and his Key Motorsports machine have had to out qualify other teams in the same position for only six available berths in the first three races.

Despite turning in the 28th quickest qualifying speed in Daytona, the Key Motorsports contingent was sent home after the 30 guaranteed starters were positioned. After a sparkling effort in California in which Chaffin and the team overcame a practice session wreck that required the team to rebuild the right side of its Silverado to qualify a solid 17th en route to an 18th place finish, a lack of speed prevented Chaffin from making the Atlanta field.

“Our trucks have driven great, and I know that had we qualified for the races in Daytona and Atlanta, we would have been in for some good, solid runs”, Chaffin stated. “But we failed to do that and are now faced with the same situation at Martinsville. But I believe that we will make the race there and run well. Our equipment is too good”, Chaffin added.

With horsepower not to play as heavy a role in Martinsville, set-up and handling will be the key issues around Martinsville Speedway’s paper clip-designed, half-mile tract. Chaffin’s experience will thus hopefully pay off for him and the #40 Key Motorsports entry.

“Martinsville is a tough place. It has those long straight-aways and then those slow, tight corners, and you have to whoa the car down enough to be able to roll through the corner and get back on the throttle quickly. If you miss the set-up there, it’ll cost you a couple of tenths, and that is what the difference is at Martinsville from the fastest car to the slowest. There is little room for error”, explained Chaffin, who in five career Truck Series races at Martinsville has posted two top 10 finishes (topped by a fifth in this same race a year ago) and has averaged a 10th place starting position. He has also led two of those races.

The Key Motorsports entourage will again face the top 30 rule during qualifying, but some added emphasis in the preparation of the Martinsville truck and a planned testing session next week at another track will hopefully get the job done.

“I believe that we will make the race and then have a good run, and that should help turn this entire organization’s season around and headed in the right direction. We just have to be extra prepared for qualifying and get a good enough lap so that we won’t have to worry”, Chaffin exclaimed.

Despite having his truck compete in only one of the first three races, team founder Curtis Key sits 34th in owner points and is only 31 points out of the 30th and final guaranteed spot in the ’06 standings. That is what will finally be used to determine 30 of the 36 available berths when the Craftsman Truck Series moves to Gateway International Raceway on April 29 for the fifth race of the season. “That is where we want to be”, Chaffin said.