Smoke Filled Night in Vegas For McCumbee

A promising evening for rookie Chad McCumbee and his No. 08 Green Light Racing team quickly went up in smoke at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

McCumbee qualified 19th for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Smith's Las Vegas 350 and, despite his starting position, remained optimistic about his chances for victory at the 1.5-mile track. By lap seven, McCumbee had pulled his The GPS Store/Garmin Chevrolet Silverado to the 16th spot. Though he found himself mired in the pack after his quick ascent, a caution on lap 26 provided the perfect opportunity for McCumbee to gain track position. A two-tire pit stop under the yellow pushed the No. 08 up to 11th place for the restart on lap 29.

For the next three laps, McCumbee was in impressive form, cruising his way to eighth place. Then, disaster struck. The No. 08 Silverado began leaking oil on lap 32 before a complete mechanical failure accrued, bringing out the caution on lap 33 and forcing McCumbee to the garage. With his night over far too early, McCumbee finished a disappointing 34th.

"We had a pretty good truck and I feel we were in a position for a solid top ten finish, this is part of racing and you just have to pick up and be that much more pre-paired for the next race," said McCumbee.

Unofficially, McCumbee falls to 18th place in driver standings, 17 points behind 17th place Aric Almirola.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be on a two-week hiatus before the next event, the inaugural Talladega 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 7.