September 22, 2003

Chad Chaffin Struggles at California Speedway in 17th Place Finish

What a weekend for Chad Chaffin and the Dickies Dodge team. From the moment they unloaded the No. 18 truck, they fought handling problems. They tried multiple springs and shocks to fix the problem. But when everything was said and done, they started and finished in the 17th position, two laps off of the pace.

“Man, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever driven in my career,” said Chaffin. “It felt like I was at Eldora Speedway running a dirt car. The thing was sideways in the turns the whole day. Danny and the guys did everything they could to make it better, but I think something was wrong with the truck, and we just could not find at the race track. Hopefully the boys can locate it before the Las Vegas race next week. It’s hard to say what it might be.”

Chaffin flirted with the top ten when he moved up as the leaders pitted midway through the race. Chaffin and the team were on a fuel strategy that would have allowed them to go 15 laps longer on fuel than the leaders. If a caution had come out, they would have put several of them a lap down, but as it turned out, Chaffin had to make an early stop to avoid crashing the truck due to its loose condition.
“We had a pit strategy that may have helped us get a little better finish, but I just about lost the truck two laps in a row, and I told Danny that I could not drive it the way it was,” said Chaffin. “We pitted, and it was a little better for a few laps, but then it went back to being so loose that I just could not drive it.”

Chaffin lost a little ground to the No. 29 Team in the points standings, but maintained his tenth place position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings. He is now 32 points behind the No. 29 team for ninth place. He was 17 points behind them before the start of the race.

“Not a big deal,” said Chaffin. “There are still enough races left in the season to overtake them. I’m not too worried about it right now.”

Driver: Chad Chaffin, No. 18 Dickies Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
19 2 0 2 8 $ 222,925 10th

Race-by-Race Run Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
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 23 26 245 of 250 Out of Gas 6,865
Charlotte 10 8 136 of 136 Running 11,075
Dover 12 7 200 of 200 Running 15,375
Texas 10 8 167 of 167 Running 13,900
Memphis 2 28 76 of 200 Engine 8,940
Milwaukee 7 13 196 of 200 Running 10,115
Kansas 1 14 166 of 167 Running 13,640
Kentucky 3 26 50 of 150 Engine 11,540
St. Louis 13 13 160 of 160 Running 11,240
Michigan 2 3 100 of 100 Running 22,975
Indy 3 12 199 of 200 Running 10,515
Nashville 1 6 150 of 150 Running 11,950
Bristol 7 7 200 of 200 Running 13,050
Richmond 12 11 200 of 200 Running 8,800
Loudon 7 6 200 of 200 Running 12,875
California 17 17 98 of 100 Running 12,215
Las Vegas (Next Event)
Totals 3048 of 3288 (92.7%) $ 222,925

NEXT EVENT: The Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 27, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 9:00 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.