October 13, 2003

Loose, Loose, Loose for Chad Chaffin at Texas Motor Speedway

Chad Chaffin began the day with very high hopes after a strong qualifying run and a solid, happy hour practice session on Friday afternoon. But all that went away when 20 laps into the Silverado 350K, Chaffin’s No. 18 Dickies Dodge truck began to skate around on the track.

“For some reason, the truck just went too loose, and we could never get it back where I could drive it,” said Chaffin. “I don’t know. It’s the same thing that happened to us at Kansas earlier this year. We’re fine, and then it’s just like you flip a switch and the truck gets so loose that it’s about to crash.”

From about laps 25 on in the race, the team made several stops to make adjustments. On one stop, they even lifted the hood and looked to see if they had broken a front shock. The team ran between 11th and 18th place for most of the day, but never contended for the win or a top five, which was very disappointing since in happy hour practice, they were fourth quickest.

“We just had a tough day,” said Chaffin. “I don’t remember when I drove this hard for a 15th place finish. It’s a little worrisome when you’re turning right more than you are turning left in a left hand corner. I just don’t know what to think about what could be wrong with that truck. I think we need to take it out and do some testing to see why we are having such a tough time with it here lately.”

Despite the 15th place finish, Chaffin and the team remain in the 10th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings. They now sit 82 points behind Terry Cook for the ninth position, with three races remaining in the 2003 schedule. With three races remaining, the BHR teams are running in sixth position with Bobby Hamilton, tenth position with Chaffin, and 13th position with Bill Lester.

“We’ve had a tough year in the points, but we’re still in line for a top ten in the standings,” said Chaffin. “The nice thing is, as bad as we’ve done, we’re still pretty close to Bobby, and he’s won a race this year. I hope he can get to the top five in the standings, and I can get this Dickies team to at least ninth position at the end of the Homestead race.”

Driver: Chad Chaffin, No. 18 Dickies Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
22 2 0 2 8 $ 252,340 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 5 18 144 of 146 Running 9,940
South Boston 16 13 252 of 253 Running 8,565
Texas 9 15 144 of 146 Running 10,910

Martinsville (Next Event)

Totals 3588 of 3833 (93.6%) $ 252,340

NEXT EVENT: The Advance Auto Parts 200 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia on October 18, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 12:30 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 12:30 PM Eastern Time.