July 29, 2003

Chad Chaffin Looking for Big Things at IRP

Power Stroke Diesel 200
August 1, 2003
Indianapolis Raceway Park
TV: SPEED (Live) 9:00 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 9:00 PM-Eastern Time

2003 points standing after 13 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Brendan Gaughan 2000
2nd Travis Kvapil 2000
3rd Ted Musgrave 1969
4th Dennis Setzer 1921
7th Bobby Hamilton 1868
11th Chad Chaffin 1608
13th Bill Lester 1546

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 13 0 2 5 153,520
Totals 20 0 4 7 $ 223,745

Career Best Start: 1st @ Kansas Speedway 7-5-03
Career Best Finish: (Most Recent) 3rd twice @ Michigan Intl. Speedway 7-26-03
Career Largest Purse: $ 22,975 @ Michigan Intl. Speedway 7-26-03

Topics of Interest

Performance Indianapolis Raceway Park
Busch Series (Four starts with a career-best finish of 20th on 8-4-01)
Truck Series (Never raced at facility)

No. 18 Team History: Year Start Finish Driver
2002 4 5 Robert Pressley
2001 1 3 Joe Ruttman
2000 1 1 Joe Ruttman
1999 2 10 Joe Ruttman

Chaffin Looking for Blackjack at IRP: Chad Chaffin is hoping to score Blackjack this week in his 21st start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Chaffin and the No. 18 Dickies Dodge Team are coming off of a season's best third place run at Michigan International Speedway, and they are hoping to improve on that finish at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

"The team is pumped up," said Chaffin. "We needed that finish at Michigan. It's helped get the team excited for this weekend, and I expect us to be a factor at IRP."

Chaffin and the No. 18 team enter the first race of the second half of the season in the 11th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, just 79 points behind Carl Edwards.

Rich History at IRP: The No. 18 team has been very successful at Indianapolis Raceway Park over the last four years, regardless of the driver. The team has never started or finished outside of the top ten in the running order. Add to that the track record set in August 2, 2000 at 111.843MPH or 22.081 seconds, and it's easy to see why they are always happy to race at IRP. The team also won the 2000 event and won the pole position in 2001.

First One Day Show: Indianapolis will be the first one day show for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year. It puts a premium on being prepared when you have to unload, practice, qualify, and race, all in an 18-hour period of time.
"It's tough, but it's just like Saturday night racing, and most of these guys have come from that king of racing, so it's not that big a deal to most," said Chaffin. "I know when the day is over, the guys on the crew are pretty beat, but if you win, it's all worth it."

Family Time: During the week following his career-best third place finish at Michigan International Speedway, Chaffin and his family went to Disneyland.   "Our family is very important to Cindy and me so we try to spend time with our daughter and sons as often as we can," said Chaffin.

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 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 8 146 of 146 Running 13,900
Memphis 2 28 76 of 200 Engine 8,940
Milwaukee 7 13 196 of 200 Running 10,125
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 (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 13
Poles - 0
Wins - 0
Top fives - 2
Top tens - 5
Earnings - $ 153,520
Laps Completed - 1999 of 2238 (89.3%)
Laps Led - 97 of 2238
Races Led - 4 of 13
DNF's - 3

This Week's Truck: Chaffin and the No. 18 Team will be racing "Chunky" this week at Indianapolis Raceway Park. It is the same truck that led the most laps at Martinsville Speedway earlier this year, and also set on the outside of the front row at Memphis Motorsports Park.

Performance Chart: Chunky
DATE RACE START FINISH DRIVER (Last ten races)
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 Boston 8 24 Robert Pressley
3-14-03 Darlington 7 5 Chad Chaffin
4-12-03 Martinsville 23 26 Chad Chaffin
6-21-03 Memphis 2 28 Chad Chaffin
6-28-03 Milwaukee 7 13 Chad Chaffin

Chaffin Quotes  "Chunky has proven to be one of our fastest trucks, but we've yet to put a total race together with it. That should change this week though. I'm feeling really good about going to IRP, and the team is good there. The truck is a good truck for us, and I like racing on short tracks. The other ace in the hole for me is Danny (Rollins). He's been to IRP for both poles and the win the team has there, so the notes should be really good."

For More Information see www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com