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SOUTHERN
SHORT TRACK RACING NEWS
| McCumbee Looks for Magic at Michigan | The last three races have been an up and down roller-coaster ride for Chad McCumbee and the SS Green Light team. The team has had good starts in all three events only to chase the handling of the No. 07 resulting in finishes of fifteenth, seventh and thirteenth. The team hopes this weekend the roller coaster will return to it’s upward trend and that McCumbee can bring home his fifth top-ten of the year.
The SS Green Light team, who is running without a primary sponsorship for the Michigan 200 is bringing back the same Chevy Silverado that the team has run at all of the intermediate tracks so far in 2009 including a third place run at California along with top-ten finishes at Atlanta and Kansas. The team lead by co-owner and crew chief Bobby Dotter is hoping that the trip to Michigan, which is a very similar layout to California, will return the No. 07 to the front of the NASCAR Camping Word Truck Series field.
“We let a couple of good finishes slip away from us at Charlotte and Texas. The adjustments on these trucks are so critical and being in clean air is so important to how the truck reacts on these mile and a half and two mile speedways.” McCumbee explained. “I know Bobby and the guys in the shop are working hard because we have been good when we unload each week. During the race we have to do a better job on track position because it’s just so hard to pass when you get back in the dirty air.”
“At Michigan, you can run several lines so if you get caught in traffic you can try to change your line on the track to find clean air. I’ll tell you, the best thing is to start up front it’s a heck of a lot easier from up there,” he joked.
The SS Green Light team has made major improvements in performance with the No.07 team in 2009 which is currently only 27 points out of sixth place in the owners point standings. The team is actively seeking marketing partners to run the entire twenty-five race NCWTS schedule. “We all love racing, but bottom line is this is a business and in order to attract marketing partners you need to be up front and getting exposure. This year we have done a solid job on the track and with TV and radio exposure.” Said team owner Ken Smith, “We have had multiple companies come on board with us this year for several races each and I feel we have given them great branding for the dollar, but we are still short of running the whole season. I’m hopeful a strong showing at Michigan will help us secure funding to keep the No. 07 in the top-ten in points.”
• This will be the Chad’s 80th NCWTS start and 88th career NASCAR start. • Chad has competed at Michigan in the NCWTS on three previous occasions and once in the Sprint Cup Series, driving for Richard Petty in 2007. • Chad has completed all 302 laps he has run at Michigan in the NCWTS. • Chad started fourth and finished ninth in last years NCWTS Cool City Customs 200, his best finish at Michigan. • After eight events, Chad and the SS Green Light No. 07 team is currently eighth in NCWTS 2009 driver point standings, only 27 points out of fifth.
Chad’s thoughts on the Michigan International Speedway and the Michigan 200: “I think that Michigan will be a good race for the SS Green Light team, it’s fast, wide and you can run anywhere from the bottom to the top which should be to our advantage. Michigan is one of the more forgiving tracks we run as far as the handling of the truck. I really feel we can get the No. 07 Chevy upfront into the top-five this weekend.”
Thirty-three drivers are on the preliminary entry list for the Michigan 200, which will be shown live on SPEED TV at 2:00 eastern on June 13th. It will also be broadcast live via radio worldwide on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and on SIRIUS Satellite Radio NASCAR channel 128.
For more on Chad McCumbee or SS Green Light Racing visit www.SSRacingonline.com or email: pr@ssgreenlight.com. Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!
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