July 21, 2003

Chad Chaffin Starts and Finishes 13th at Gateway International Speedway

Rain has been the story of the year thus far in the 2003 season, and Thursday was no exception. For most of the day, the rain fell at the Gateway International Speedway, canceling qualifying, and relegated Chad Chaffin and the No. 18 BHR Dickies Dodge team to the 13th starting position. Unfortunately for Chaffin, that too would be where he and the team would finish the race.

“We just could never get track position,” said Chaffin. “We had a good truck, but it would take a few laps for our tires to come in and by that time, the guys in front of us had built up a lead. We’d run them down and the caution would come out again. It just was not our night. We had it worked out on pit strategy that with 40 laps to go in the event, we could make it to the end on fuel and no one else could. We just needed it to go green flag to the end of the race. And what do you know the one guy that was in a caution not 10 minutes after we figured this out was our teammate, Bill Lester. It was just hard to believe. Hopefully we’ll have something for these guys at Michigan. It’s a lot like Kansas, so we’re hoping for another pole.”

Chaffin had a fairly uneventful night running between ninth and 17th place all night. The only close call he had came on lap 141, when his teammate, Lester, and several other trucks crashed in turn three.
 
“I backed off the gas going down the back straightaway because I just saw what was about to happen,” said Chaffin. “The No. 07 went low, and I didn’t think they were going to make it and I was right. I got slowed down just enough to miss the crash.”

Chaffin and the team remain in the 12th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings despite the 13th place finish.

The Ram Tough 200 event from Gateway International Speedway was won by fellow Dodge Driver Brendan Gaughan, with Jason Leffler, Travis Kvapil, Carl Edwards and Rick Crawford rounding out the top five.

Driver: Chad Chaffin, No. 18 Dickies Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
12 0 0 1 4 $ 130,545 12th

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 (Next Event)

Totals 1899 of 2138 (88.8%) $ 130,545