Veteran NASCAR crew chief and mechanic Barry Dodson has been named to lead the efforts of the Key Motorsports Truck Series organization. Dodson succeeds Lance Hooper as crew chief of the #40 Key Motorsports Chevy trucks currently driven by Chad Chaffin as Hooper has taken a similar position with the ThorSport organization [#13/#88]. “Lance did a good job getting us to this point, and we wish him well in his new endeavor”, Key Motorsports founder and President Curtis W. Key, Sr. said Monday. “But getting someone of the caliber of a Barry Dodson to guide this young team is a significant step for us. We believe that Barry’s experience and past success in the Craftsman Truck Series will enable us to get to the next level”, Key added. Dodson is a 35-year veteran of NASCAR racing and is best known for guiding Rusty Wallace to his only NASCAR Nextel Cup Series crown in 1989. Dodson claims that this accomplishment was the crowning moment in his illustrious career, one that also has seen the Wake Forest, NC native amass 19 Nextel Cup and six Truck Series victories as a crew chief. “I have been looking for the right opportunity to come along, and nothing really gave me the comfort level and good feeling from what I saw and felt at Key Motorsports. Few people realize in this sport what Curtis (Key) has put into his teams over the years, and it is time for that to finally show itself”, Dodson said. Key operated a Busch Series operation from 1991 to 1999, running predominantly a limited schedule due to a lack of sponsorship but featuring some of the top drivers ever in Busch Series action. Former Series champions Tommy Ellis, Chuck Bown and Larry Pearson were amongst them. Key did run a half season in 1997 with sponsorship from SPEED Vision and the Outdoor Channel with then rookie driver Jimmie Foster. After a 4-year hiatus from the sport to devote more time to his Plumbing Contracting business in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, Key returned to the industry in 2003 as the owner of a Truck Series team, operating first out of a brand new race shop in Chesapeake, VA before moving back to Mooresville, NC last year. Key now operates out of an ever-expanding operation previously owned by Tom Logano, using one of the two race shops he owns on 5.5 acres of land in the new Performance Park off of Shinn Farm Road and Highway 152 East. Chaffin, Dodson and company will test on Wednesday this week at Caraway Speedway to shake down the Martinsville truck and to get used to working with one another.(Key Motorsports PR)(3-27-2006)
