RIDGEWAY, VA :: Deac McCaskill had a strong run in last year’s Martinsville DuPont Credit Union (MDCU) 300 before triggering a multi-car incident which relegated him to a 12th place finish.  This year, he’s hoping to build on last year’s performance and score the victory in Late Model Stock Car racing’s biggest race.

McCaskill enters the race with eight wins on the season – seven of those coming at East Carolina Motor Speedway and the other at South Boston Speedway.  McCaskill may not have had the dominant, championship winning performances in 2014 that he’s enjoyed in the two years prior, but that hasn’t swayed his confidence any.  McCaskill is focused on trying to find the extra little edge he needs to be successful on Sunday.

“I think we can always get a little better,” McCaskill said about his car.  “There are some guys that are really fast so we’re always looking for that extra tenth.  We’re trying to make a lot of changes to prepare ourselves for race day, see what kind of conditions the track will be.  It seems like it’s always different from test day.  Sometimes, the changes help, sometimes, it hurts.   We’re just learning more about this place.  Hopefully we can have another good run like last year.”

McCaskill is bringing the same car he ran in last year’s race where he was running up inside the top-10 in the closing laps before getting together with Lee Pulliam, triggering a multi-car accident.  He says the car is as good as it was last year.

“It’s the same car as last year, just got a little different engine package,” McCaskill explained.  “It seems to be working just as well as it did last year.  Speed-wise, we were just as good as we were last year during Wednesday’s test.  We did learn a lot in the race.  We ran up front a lot.  We learned what the car was doing in the race and what we needed so hopefully we’ll be okay. “

McCaskill’s goals are to first make the race and then try to survive and be there at the end.

“This race is always tough to make,” McCaskill remarked.  “It’s a pretty strong field here every year.  If you can put yourself in a good qualifying position, good starting spot in the heat race and keep yourself in position for the end of the race, you’ll be okay.”

McCaskill’s best finish in the MDCU 300 came back in 2009 when he scored a fourth place finish in a race won by Jake Crum.  This year, he would love to be the driver standing in victory lane next to the grandfather clock as the winner of one of the races that has eluded him.