Chaffin to begin season as primary driver for Key's 40

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Veteran driver Chad Chaffin has again been tapped by Key Motorsports owner Curtis W. Key Sr. to pilot the team's primary No. 40 Chevrolet Silverado in selected races 2008 Craftsman Truck Series season.

Chaffin, 39, will start the process with the Chevy Silverado 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 15. It will be the third season in which Chaffin has driven for the team that will be running the complete NCTS schedule for the third consecutive season. Chaffin will run the next three races on the schedule as well -- at California, Atlanta and Martinsville -- after which a decision will be made on future race dates.

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"Chad is a veteran, and when we called upon him last year to run the last eight races of the season to truly show how good our race trucks can be, he performed," Key commented. "Chad posted the two best finishes we have ever scored in the Truck Series with a seventh at Martinsville and an eighth-place finish in Talladega. He was my logical choice to begin the '08 season."

Chaffin was also Key's choice to drive the 40 Chevy in 2006 when Key Motorsports became a full-time team in the Craftsman Truck Series after limited activity the previous two years. That tour, however, only lasted seven races in which Chaffin qualified for only two of them. That is when the 40 Chevrolet did not have the benefit of a top-30 position in owner points from the year before and was forced to qualify into each event.

"I had more fun driving Curtis' trucks last year than I had driving for anyone in quite a while," Chaffin said.

"They [Key Motorsports] have some really good equipment and have actually made them better during this offseason. With improved motors, and Gary [crew chief Showalter] and Tommy [director of competition Morgan] calling the shots and overseeing the operation, there is no reason why we can't have a top-10 or top-15 truck every week. I'm really looking forward to getting this new season started."

The team bypassed the first two open Truck Series test sessions in Daytona and Atlanta for a variety of reasons, and one of them was getting their engines re-done with the latest combinations and having the newly mandated manifolds approved by NASCAR. Key doesn't believe that it will hinder the team's effort when the season finally begins.

"We have three proven speedway trucks that have all run up front and really good in the draft in races over the last two years at Daytona and Talladega," Key said. "We've made some body changes to each of them that really showed up well in the wind tunnel, and with more horsepower, we should be even better in 2008. I really want to show everyone that this small, independent team can run with the big boys."

Chaffin surpassed two personal NCTS milestones while running for Key Motorsports last year.

He passed the 100 mark in career starts (he now has 102) and the $1 million mark in earnings ($1,242,718) in an eight-season span and has the opportunity to help Key commemorate his own milestone when the 40 or 44 Chevrolet (Key Motorsports owns both numbers) runs the team's 13th overall race in 2008.

That will mark Key's 100th career NASCAR race start covering two circuits (Craftsman Truck and the Nationwide Series) during an 11-year span.

"We have a chance to really show improvement this coming year and Chad will be a big part of that," Key said. He is counting on improved performances to help lure sponsorship for his team that will enter the Daytona opener and all subsequent races with a clean race truck.

"One of these days a company is going to realize that we have a good product and that this organization takes care of its sponsors. We will be making an announcement soon of a sponsor that will back us for a limited number of races this season, but we are still looking for that one big sponsor that can fund our program for the balance of the season," Key added.