October 15, 2003

Chaffin Says It was a Big Thrill to Lead Martinsville

Big Thrill: “It was a big thrill to lead last time in Martinsville. We were still new going into the season; it was only the fourth race in for us. That was the first time I had ever raced at Martinsville. I had heard how hard the track was, but we were still able to lead around 80 laps. We actually lead more laps than anybody else. So it was a big thrill for us and the whole Dickies Dodge team. It looked like for a lot of the race that we had a chance to win. So at that point in the season, after we had ran fifth at Darlington and then ran so well in Martinsville, that was the highlight of our year so far.”

Leading Laps, First Time There: “I hope I’m able to do that again this time. Basically the first time there, having not ever even seen the track, I got with Bobby (Hamilton, truck owner, teammate) and asked some questions. He’s probably one of the best, smoothest drivers at Martinsville. We talked about the track and he told me some things to do. I got out on the track behind him and got into the same rhythm that he was running, which was pretty natural, and that is how I drove the track. I did all the braking real early and tried to roll through the corners. As it turned out, it worked really well. We had one of the fastest trucks all day. Our setup was dead on. Had it not been for our bad fuel strategy, we could have finished in second place. I don’t think we could have won, (Dennis) Setzer was really strong, but I do think we could have held second place. Second was in the bag with four laps to go. It is a very grueling track, but having Bobby around helped me learn how to drive that track correctly. Hopefully I can remember that.”

Paperclip Martinsville: “What makes Martinsville so grueling is that it is not an oval in a typical sense of the word. Most of the tracks we race on are tracks that look like ovals, but they are almost circular. When you get in a rhythm it’s almost like driving around in a circle, but Martinsville is shaped like a paper clip. The straightaways are so long you build up so much speed and then you hit the corners and they are so tight. Your top speed versus your minimum speed is probably greater at that track than any other short track. You go so fast down the straightaway then you have to go so slow to make the corners.”

Notes:

· This weekend’s truck is Chunky. Chaffin had a chance in this truck to win at Martinsville the last time he raced there.

· This is Chaffin’s second time racing at the Martinsville Speedway. In his first stint at the .526-mile oval Chaffin lead 80 laps before he ran out of gas with only five laps to go in the race.

· If Chaffin and one of his teammates finish in the top ten this weekend, BHR will have 100 top-10 finishes under its belt.

Testing Helps: “Basically the first time all three teams went to Greenville to test. This time Bobby went by himself because, to be honest, they think if that team can go down there and find something it will give them a better chance to win the race. If they learn anything, then they will share it with us and we can apply it to our truck. Where we came up four laps shy on fuel, we feel like the Dickies Dodge has got a pretty good baseline setup. So going to Greenville, which is similar, but not identical, would not help us as much as maybe it would Bobby. They’ve had some chassis geometry changes and are trying to work through all that. So as of right now we want to take the same piece we had the first time and see if our luck can be a little better.”

For More Information see www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com