Dickies Racing Recap MBNA America 200

With 52 laps left in the MBNA America 200 at Dover International Speedway Dickies driver Chad Chaffin took the lead under caution and held off driver Rick Crawford by .382 seconds to win his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.

“It was just an incredible day,” Chaffin said.  “The last few weeks we thought we were on the cusp of winning a race.  This morning I really felt like it was in the cards.  It’s hard to pass here at Dover; this track is the Monster Mile.  It has a big-time reputation.  My guys gave me an awesome Dickies Dodge.  I’ve been racing about 13 years, and this is the biggest win of my career.  This is a day I didn’t know would ever come. I’m thrilled.  I’m speechless.”

Chaffin’s first victory came after the team got out of sequence on pit stops, thus playing into their favor for the win.  On lap 51 Chaffin pitted because the right front tire was on the left side of the Dickies Dodge and the left front tire was on the right front.  The Dickies Racing Team switched the tires and sent Chaffin back on the one-mile oval in 16th position.

“Early in the race, we started in ninth place and moved up to fifth,” Chaffin said.  “We had a really fast truck.  After the second caution we came out of the pits and it felt like I had a flat tire on the right front.  Actually they put a left-side tire on the right front and it doesn’t have as much air so we had to come back in.  That put us in the back of the pack.”

Then the fourth caution came out on lap 81 and Chaffin thought something was wrong with his Goodyear Eagles again.  Crew Chief Kip McCord called Chaffin into the pits on lap 84 for right side tires to keep Chaffin on the lead lap.  Then again Chaffin pitted on lap 86 for left side tires to complete the set.  On lap 88 Chaffin restarted in the 19th position.

The leaders began to pit around lap 135.  By lap 148 Chaffin had moved up to the lead.  The fifth caution of the day came out on lap 151 leaving only five trucks on the lead lap.  “Guys I would give $100,000 right now for some rain,” Chaffin said.  But he didn’t need the rain to hold off the field.  The Dickies Racing Team cranked out a stellar pit stop on lap 156 under caution helping Chaffin retain the lead for the restart on lap 163. 
Much to the team’s dismay, the sixth caution came out on lap 190 when Ken Weaver spun on the front stretch.  The crowd jumped to their feet for the four-lap shootout and watched as Chaffin held off Rick Crawford by three truck-lengths to win the MBNA America 200.

 “I really wasn’t nervous (on final restart),” Chaffin said.  “Every single race I ever won was the most important race in the world to me.  I saw the two red lines (where to speed up when the flag drops), and once I got the green flag I knew we had a fast truck.  I just wanted to get through the first couple of corners.  I knew Rick was a good driver and was going to give it all he had.  It was our day.  I just had to hit my marks and bring it home.
“Getting off sequence really played into our favor,” Chaffin said.  “When everybody else started running out of gas, I had plenty of fuel.  We didn’t luck into (winning) this race, but that made it a whole lot easier.  I didn’t really have to pass anybody at the end of the race to win it.  When those guys had to pit, I put them all one lap down.  All of the races are important.  If these guys got together and raced in a sandlot, I’d want to win, but to win at a Dover is special.”

Following Chaffin in the MBNA America 200 was Rick Crawford, Hank Parker Jr., Mike Skinner and Ken Schrader rounding out the top five.  As a result of the win, Chaffin moved up two spots to 13th in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points race.