Chad Chaffin finding success in Busch Series

Success in several racing divisions? Been there, done
that. Success in NASCAR’s Busch Series? Am there, starting to find. That could
sum up several drivers in the triple A division of NASCAR, but none more than
Chad Chaffin from Smyrna, Tennessee, 20 miles southeast of Nashville.

Chaffin, who started racing at Highland Rim Speedway, just
north of Nashville, at the age of 14, quickly found success and started winning
races at the highly competitive high-banked bullring. Then, he moved his racing
career to Nashville Speedway, where he won two track championships. He won 15
Late Model races at Nashville in 1995 on his way to a total of 39 victories,
tying him with Nashville legend Coo-Coo Marlin, father of Winston Cup star,
Sterling Marlin.

The Hooter’s Pro Cup Series was his next challenge. Again,
he found success. In fact, he might have won the points championship his first
year in that division, but he took one race off to drive Joe Nemechek’s Busch
car at Nashville in 1998. Nemechek couldn’t run the race because of a Winston
Cup race commitment, so he sought advice from several of his fellow Winston Cup
drivers that had cut their racing teeth at Nashville as to who would be a good
driver to fill in for him. Across the board the answer came back: Chad Chaffin.

Chaffin represented the Nemechek team well. He qualified
near the front of the field and ran strong until being caught in a late race
crash. Now, he’d had a taste of racing Busch in a competitive car. He liked the
flavor, but there weren’t many competitive rides available on a continuing
basis. So, he raced Hooter’s Cup and built a Busch Car that he could run
occasionally, when time and money permitted.

"I figured I’d done about all I could do at
Nashville, so I wanted to go to the next NASCAR level," Chaffin said.
"I raced the Busch car and a few times I was the fastest Ford in
qualifying, but my lack of experience at most of the tracks, plus a low budget,
made it difficult to be competitive. But, I figured maybe that was as far as I
was ever going to go in NASCAR."

Chaffin says, in a way, he was a victim of bad timing in
his career climbing the NASCAR ladder.

"When I was young and winning a lot of races, car
owners wanted someone, who had experience driving their cars," he said.
"They didn’t want some rookie going out and knocking the wall down with
their equipment, so they wouldn’t hire me. Then, when I finally got some racing
experience, the car owners, I think largely due to the success of Jeff Gordon,
all wanted young, aggressive drivers. So, it seemed I was doomed by
timing."

But, never say never: Chaffin’s success in qualifying his
Ford caught the attention of some of Ford’s top racing brass and when Tom Hall
was looking for a driver for his No. 77 UAW/Lear Ford, Chaffin was recommended
to him by none other than Ford’s top brass.

"I had to commit to a two year deal with the
team," Chaffin said. "The first year we are concentrating on me
learning the tracks, but next year we will have all of the pieces together and
we should be very competitive."

NASCAR has dealt Chaffin a strange hand concerning his
"rookie" status. Since he started seven Busch races in 1994, three in
1993 and at least one each in 1997, 1998 and 1999, NASCAR won’t allow Chaffin
the 12 test dates that rookies normally get in the Busch series. But, NASCAR
makes him attend all of the rookie meetings and his UAW/Lear Ford’s bumper is
yellow, signifying rookie status for the driver.

"I’ve been lobbying NASCAR to get some more test
dates," Chaffin said, shaking his head. "Hornaday gets the 12 dates
even though he has run most of the tracks already while running the Craftsman
Truck Series. I don’t know what will come of it, but we need the dates and I’m
going to keep asking for them. We have used four of our seven already."

But, even with limited experience on unfamiliar tracks,
the team has already found success in qualifying with Chaffin putting the car on
the front row one time this season and often starting in the top 20.

"We’ve got to get our race setup better,"
Chaffin admits. "We generally qualify pretty well because tires can mask a
handling problem for the few laps it takes to qualify. But, after a few laps in
the race we fall back some. It will get better. As a matter of fact, I feel we
would have had a top ten finish at Bristol if we hadn’t been caught in that last
crash. We still managed to finish 16th and we were the fastest of the cars one
lap down. We’re getting there."

The No. 77 team has experience with veteran racer Jimmy
Means as their crew chief and team manager.

"Jimmy brings a lot to the table with his
experience," Chaffin said. "We aren’t a championship caliber team
quite yet, but with a few tweaks and twists we can be. It’s my intention on
being with this team for a long time."