Chad McCumbee will run the #49 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge in the Sprint Showdown and will have a Petty Enterprises crew and Billy Wilburn will serve as crew chief. Quotes from Chad McCumbee: “I just want to thank everyone at Petty Enterprises and BAM Racing for giving me the opportunity to race in the Sprint All-Star Showdown. Hopefully we can have a good run and race our way into the all-star race. That would be a dream come true. Being one of the few drivers from North Carolina, I know how big that race has become. Lowe’s Motor Speedway is our backyard and the race is for bragging rights as much as anything else. I like the 1.5-mile tracks, like Lowe’s, so I’m confident that we will be competitive on Saturday. Billy (Wilburn, crew chief) and I have developed a great relationship over the last three races that I’ve run for Petty Enterprises. We have a lot of confidence in each other and that’s important when you are racing for all or nothing. That’s how we have to approach it. It’s win or go home. At the same time I’m going to go out there and do what I can to help my teammates. Kyle and Bobby have bigger fish on the line with the Coca-Cola 600. If there is something that I can try, something that may help them win next Sunday, then I am all for it. They have helped me tremendously in my time at Petty.” Petty Enterprises announced this week that McCumbee will pilot the #45 Dodge for two races this summer while Kyle Petty works in the broadcast booth for TNT.(MCG Sports/Petty Racing)(5-13-2008) IMAGE: see an image of the car on my #49 Team Schemes page.(5-15-2008) UPDATE 2: BAM Racing team owner Beth Ann Morgenthau announced a one-race association with Petty Enterprises for the upcoming Sprint Showdown on Saturday, May 17, 2008. According to Mrs. Morgenthau, “Before our move to Toyota, we were a Dodge team and we have worked closely with the Petty’s for years. NASCAR’s rules state that a team must be in the top 50 in owner’s points from the previous year in order to compete in the Sprint Showdown. As I understand it, Kyle was looking to get Chad McCumbee some valuable seat time at Lowe’s and wanted to enter a third car. Since our team is hard at work trying to secure sponsorship and return our Toyota to the track a little later in the year, we were glad to help them out. While the car for the Sprint Showdown will be listed as BAM Racing’s #49, it will be a Petty Dodge and will be run out of their shop with their crew. I suppose you could say that when the King asks for a favor, we listen! BAM Racing is committed to return to the Sprint Cup series and we have several potential marketing partners that we’re very excited about. We should be able to make an announcement soon.”(BAM Racing PR)(5-16-2008)
