Chad Chaffin No. 18 Dickies Dodge Race Notes

Topics of Interest

Performance Nashville Super Speedway
Busch Series (Two starts with a career-best finish of 27th on 6-8-02)

Truck Series Performance
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
8-10-01 23 14 146 of 150 Running $ 6,440
8-10-02 21 31 49 of 151 Timing Chain 5,535
Totals 195 of 301(64.7%) $ 11,975

No. 18 Team History:
Year Start Finish Driver
2002 4 9 Robert Pressley
2001 7 4 Joe Ruttman

Hometown Boy: Over the winter, BHR circled five very important races on the schedule and said that we need to win these races. They circled Daytona for prestige, Texas for Dickies, Michigan for Dodge, and Nashville for BHR. This week, it’s the hometown race and the hometown boys will be overwhelmed with fan fair from family and friends.

“This is a huge race for us,” said Chad Chaffin. “Every one of the guys and my friends will be looking on at us. They follow us all year long, and this is the one place they all come out to see what we do in person. So don’t think for one minute that this team and organization is not under a lot of pressure to perform. If we don’t run well here at Nashville then we have to hear it from everyone that supports us. I bet there will be 250 to 350 family members along in the stands. It’s big for us.”

Chaffin himself has not had a lot of luck at the new Nashville Super Speedway in the last two years that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series has been racing at the facility. He finished 14th in the first race at the track, but last year, he broke a timing chain and finished 31st. The No. 18 team has been pretty good at the Speedway recording finishes of ninth place in 2002 and fourth in 2001.

“I like the place, but it’s never been real kind to me,” said Chaffin. “I did get my best career finish of third place in my first race in the Truck Series at the old Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. I tied that finish a few weeks ago at Michigan Speedway.”

In the last seven weeks, the No. 18 team has turned the corner in qualifying. They have an average starting position of 4.4 and have been outside of the top three starting positions only twice. One was a seventh place start at Milwaukee, and the other a 13th place start at St. Louis.

Appearances: Chaffin will be making an appearance at the Sears store in Rivergate Mall just north of Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 from 4:00PM to 7:00PM CST. Also at the appearance will be the Dickies Transporter and the Sears simulator. On race day, Chaffin will be at the Dodge Merchandise rig to sign autographs. The time has not been determine as of yet.

BHR No. 18 Dickies Crew Roster
Name Duties
Jerry Adcock Spotter
Stu Beckett Gasman
Chad Chaffin Driver
Ken Evans Rear Tire Changer
Roger Guard Catchcan
Mike Martin Signman
Jason Miller Rear Tire Carrier
David Pepper Marketing and Public Relations
Bobby Riddle Jackman
Danny Rollins Crew Chief Front Tire Changer
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 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 3 12 199 of 200 Running 10,515
Nashville (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 14
Poles - 0
Wins - 0
Top fives - 2
Top tens - 5
Earnings - $ 164,035
Laps Completed - 2198 of 2438 (90.1%)
Laps Led - 97 of 2438
Races Led - 4 of 14
DNF’s - 3

Open House: The Nashville Super Speedway will host the third annual BHR Open House on Wednesday, August 6, 2003 from 5:00PM to 8:00PM CST. The event is open to all preferred ticket holders at the Speedway. All three BHR drivers will be on hand to sign autographs and mingle with the crowd. There will also be a dinner, the Craftsman simulator, the Dodge engineering transporter, and the Dodge merchandise rig.

This Week’s Truck: This will be the 20th race for “Hulk.” It is the same truck that won at Darlington in 2001 with Bobby Hamilton, and the same truck that Chaffin finished third in at Michigan two weeks ago.

Performance Chart: Last five races for “Hulk”
DATE RACE START FINISH DRIVER
11-8-02 Phoenix 20 26 Ryan Hemphill
6-6-03 Texas 10 8 Chad Chaffin
7-5-03 Kansas 1 14 Chad Chaffin
5-12-03 Kentucky 3 26 Chad Chaffin
7-26-03 Michigan 2 3 Chad Chaffin

Chaffin Quotes

“We need to finish this year up with a bang. We’ve not had the year we’ve wanted for us or for Dickies. The biggest problem this team has faced all year is inconsistency. The truck has been fast, but it just seems to come and go. This is just how the first year together can be sometimes for a team. The important thing is that we are learning from our mistakes, and the end of 2003 is a spring board into next year.”