MCCUMBEE WAS MANGELED BY THE MONSTER IN FIRST NNS START AT DOVER |
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Topics: Chad McCumbee, Heluva Good! 200
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Jessica Caulder
RAB Racing
May 16, 2010
Dover, DE (5-16-2010) – Chad McCumbee, who was making his third start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and first start in the series at the “Monster Mile”, saw a promising run vanish on Saturday, when the rookie fell victim to a late race accident, relegating him and the sophomore team to a 32nd-place finish in the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway.
Due to the finish, the No. 09 entry dropped three positions to 27th in the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings, a mere 17 points outside the top-25 and 98 markers outside the top-20.
The Supply, NC native was the 24th driver to attempt a qualifying run in Saturday morning’s time trials. The No. 09 machine circled the 1-mile oval in 23.438 seconds at a speed of 153.597mph posting the 18th fastest qualifying time and McCumbee’s best start for RAB Racing.
When the green flag dropped on the 11th event of the 2010 season, McCumbee made a dash towards the front of the field, flirting with a position in the top-10 by lap 2. However, contact from behind by the No. 7 machine caused right rear quarter panel damage that affected the handling on the No. 09 Ford Fusion. McCumbee was quick to respond that he had, “no grip”, but managed to hold onto it until the first caution at lap 35 for a spin on the backstretch.
The RAB Racing team took this time to repair the right rear damage, take four tires and fuel. When racing resumed on lap 35, the No. 09 machine was scored in the 38th position, one lap down.
Over the next 115 laps, McCumbee would make two trips down pit road to try and help the handling on his Ford Fusion. When the fourth caution flag of the afternoon was waved at lap 153, McCumbee had worked his way up to the 29th position but was now two laps down.
McCumbee remained on the racing surface during the fourth caution period to get a "wave around" and ultimately get one of his two laps back. When racing resumed on lap 156, the No. 09 Ford Fusion was sitting in the 25th position only one lap down.
McCumbee maintained his position in the top-25 over the next 39 circuits until the fifth caution flag was displayed for an accident in turn-2 at lap 195. Four tires and fuel were in order for the No. 09 machine as he made his way down pit road. Due to excellent work by the RAB Racing pit crew, McCumbee restarted 24th on lap 198 for an un-scheduled green-white-checker finish.
On the restart, contact between Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin resulted in a multi-car accident on the frontstretch claiming nine machines, including the No. 09 of Chad McCumbee.
In his first NNS start at Dover Int’l Speedway, McCumbee would be scored in the 32nd-place position behind race winner Kyle Busch.
“Man, we had such a good car on the first lap,” said McCumbee. “That was the first time since I got behind the wheel of one of these Nationwide cars that I was so excited about my car. Unfortunately, the 7 got into the right rear quarter panel on lap two and it just ruined our day. We worked on it to get it right and I thought we were going to salvage a good finish until we got caught up in that last big wreck. It wasn’t our fault, but it’s a product of racing and it’s frustrating.”
McCumbee will be back behind the wheel of the No. 09 TheGPSstore.com Ford Fusion in two weeks at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 25-year-old NNS rookie has five starts at the 1.5-mile quad oval in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series, but will be making his first start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in the Tech Net Auto Service 300 on Saturday night, May 29th.
For more information on RAB Racing please visit: www.teamrab.com
For more information on Chad McCumbee please visit: www.ChadMcCumbee.com
For more information on TheGPSstore please visit: www.TheGPSstore.com
Jessica Caulder
RAB Racing with Brack Maggard
Public Relations/Travel Coordinator
704-788-7811 Shop
704-788-7806 Fax
803-240-5807 Cell
JCaulder@teamrab.com
www.teamrab.com