April 7, 2003

Chad Chaffin Ready to Get Back Behind the Wheel at Martinsville

Advance Auto Parts 250
April 12, 2003
Martinsville Speedway
TV: SPEED (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time

2003 points standing after 3 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Bobby Hamilton 510
2nd Rick Crawford 481
3rd Brendan Gaughan 479
4th Travis Kvapil 455
5th Robert Pressley 439
12th Chad Chaffin 375
13th Bill Lester 360

Chad Chaffin Profile
Birthdate - July 20, 1968
Birthplace - McMinnville, Tennessee
Wife - Cindy
Children - Brooke, Chase, Chaz
Residence - Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Other Interest - Owner of South Eastern
Recycling in Nashville, Tennessee.

NASCAR Truck Series Career Statistics Year-By-Year
Years Starts Wins Top 5's Top 10's Money
2000 3 0 1 1 $ 33,635
2001 2 0 1 1 23,215
2002 2 0 0 0 13,375
2003 3 0 1 1 27,855
Totals 10 0 3 3 $ 98,080

Career Best Start: 6th @ Daytona Intl. Speedway 2-14-03
Career Best Finish: 3rd @ Nashville Speedway USA 8-12-00
Career Largest Purse: $17,725 @ Nashville Speedway USA 8-12-00


NASCAR Career (1993-2003)
1. Busch Series - 79 Starts Career Best Ninth Place 1999
2. Two Track Championships at Nashville Speedway USA (1993, 1995)
3. Won Most Popular Driver Award at Nashville Speedway USA in 1995

Topics of Interest

Performance Record: Martinsville Speedway
(Chad Chaffin Has No Previous Starts at the Facility)

No. 18 Team History:
Year Start Finish Driver
2002 17 14 Robert Pressley
2001 1 4 Joe Ruttman
2000 6 6 Joe Ruttman
1999 17 27 Butch Miller

Second Time in as Races: For the second time in as many races, the driver of the No. 18 BHR Dickies Dodge, Chad Chaffin, will be making his first start at a Speedway. Like Mesa Marin Raceway three weeks ago, Chaffin has never raced at Martinsville Speedway.

"It's not that big of a deal," said Chaffin. "I'm sure I will take it easy the first few laps of practice, but after that, I'm sure we'll be fine. I have talked with Bobby (Hamilton) about the place, and he has given me a few things to look for. So hopefully we can get behind him in the first practice and learn a few things before race time. He's one of the best at the place, from what I'm seen, in the last few years."

Chaffin and the team are coming off of a tough finish at Bakersfield, after a cut tire dropped them to a 20th place finish. It is the second cut tire this season for the No. 18 team.

"I tell you what, I just can't believe our luck," said Chaffin. "At the rate we're cutting down tires this year, we'll have about 19 of them by the season's end. I just hope we're getting all our bad luck out of the way in the first few races, so we can get this truck up front the rest of the year."

Chaffin and the No. 18 Dickies team enter the race in the 12th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, just a mere nine points out of the 10th position.

Testing: All three of the BHR teams will spend the Monday and Tuesday of the race week, leading up to the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway testing, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

The last time the No. 18 team tested at Greenville-Pickens Speedway before the Martinsville race was in 2001. That week, Joe Ruttman sat on the pole and finished in the fourth position in the Advance Auto Parts 250.

"This team has always done well at Martinsville after testing at Greenville-Pickens, so hopefully it will help me get comfortable," said Chaffin.

"I'm not sure we can do what they did a few years ago, but we're definitely going to give it our best shot. Who knows, we may just surprise a few people when we get there."

Earnings: When Chaffin starts the event at Martinsville Speedway, he will surpass the $ 100,000 mark in career Truck Series earnings.

BHR No. 18 Dickies Crew Roster
Name Duties
Jerry Adcock Spotter
Stu Beckett Gasman
Chad Chaffin Driver
Jeff Davis Front Tire Changer
Ken Evans Rear Tire Changer
Roger Guard Catchcan
Mark Hackett Jackman
David Pepper Marketing and Public Relations
Randy Seals Crew Chief Front Tire Carrier
Kevin Warren Rear Tire Carrier

Chaffin's 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Event Results
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money
Daytona 6 17 103 of 106 Running $ 13,015
Darlington 7 5 147 of 147 Running 9,175
Bakersfield 27 20 253 of 255 Running 5,665
Martinsville (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 3
Poles - 0
Wins - 0
Top fives - 1
Top tens - 1
Earnings - $ 27,855
Laps Completed - 503 of 508 (99.0%)
Laps Led - 1 of 508
Races Led - 1 of 3
DNF's - 0

This Week's Truck: Chaffin will be racing "Chunky" this week at Martinsville Speedway. It is the same truck that he finished in the fifth position with last month at Darlington. Chunky had made 15 previous starts for BHR, before Darlington last month. The first start was the organization's first truck race in March of 1999, with Butch Miller behind the wheel.

Performance Chart: Chunky
DATE RACE START FINISH DRIVER
3-20-99 Homestead 15 9 Butch Miller
3-27-99 Phoenix 11 26 Butch Miller
4-10-99 Bakersfield 12 9 Butch Miller
5-8-99 Memphis 14 10 Butch Miller
8-5-99 IRP 2 10 Joe Ruttman
8-28-99 Topeka 10 17 Olivier Berretta
10-15-99 Texas 26 22 Eric Norris
3-26-00 Bakersfield 7 16 Joe Ruttman
6-3-00 Monroe 26 32 Donny Morelock
7-1-00 Milwaukee 25 27 Donny Morelock
7-15-00 Nazareth 26 21 Donny Morelock
3-15-02 Darlington 3 2 Robert Pressley
5-7-02 Texas 3 6 Robert Pressley
9-13-02 Texas 11 7 Robert Pressley
9-21-02 South Boston8 24 Robert Pressley
3-14-03 Darlington 7 5 Chad Chaffin

Chaffin Quotes

"The only time Bobby doesn't want me to win is when the green flag drops. When he is in his truck, he's a driver and wants to beat us. The rest of the time, he's the owner and wants to know why we didn't beat him. It makes for some interesting conversations. It actually helps to have the situation be like this. We can get out and see what he does, and it helps us improve. It just pushes me and my crew chief, Randy Seals, to get better and smarter."

"I've just been enjoying my time off the last two weeks. It lets me get a few things done with my business, but I'm ready to get on with the season. I think the people working for me are ready for me to get racing too. They just aren't use to me being there all the time. Last year when we raced the Busch Series, we ran about every week, so I was gone a little more."