Chad Finchum Bio
James Chadwick Finchum, known professionally as Chad Finchum, is an American professional stock car racing driver born on September 22, 1994, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has competed across multiple NASCAR national series, including the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and has also raced in the ARCA Menards Series East. Finchum most recently drove the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Garage 66 on a part-time basis in the Cup Series.
Standing 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, Finchum is a compact but determined racer whose career has been defined by perseverance through smaller teams. His career began at age seven in Tennessee short tracks and has carried him to some of the most iconic venues in American motorsports, including Bristol Motor Speedway, Dover International Speedway, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Early Life and Background
Chad Finchum was born and raised in the Knoxville area of East Tennessee, a region with deep roots in short-track racing culture. He attended Halls High School in nearby Halls Crossroads, Tennessee, balancing his education with an increasingly demanding racing schedule that began in childhood.
Finchum began racing at the age of seven, getting his start in go-karts at Dumplin Valley Raceway in Tennessee. By the time he was thirteen, he had accumulated roughly 200 go-kart wins across both dirt and asphalt surfaces, an early indicator of the versatility that would later serve him well on varied NASCAR tracks.
From go-karts, Finchum transitioned into full-bodied race cars, frequently competing in late models at Kingsport Speedway in Tennessee. He also raced Bandolero and Legends cars during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Summer Shootout, broadening his experience on bigger stages. In 2010, his development paid off when he won the Tennessee NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship, signaling that a move up the NASCAR ladder was within reach.
Path to NASCAR
Finchum’s first taste of NASCAR’s development ladder came in 2011, when he made four starts in the K&N Pro Series East with car owner Lori Williams, who had previously given rides to Daniel Suárez and Jesus Hernandez. In his rookie season, he scored two top-ten finishes, placing seventh at both Bowman Gray Stadium and Gresham Motorsports Park.
He moved to Spraker Racing in 2012, recording another seventh-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway, and returned to the team for one start in 2013. After starting 2015 with his own team, he aligned with Martin-McClure Racing later that year. The partnership delivered his breakthrough in 2016, when in only his third start with the team, Finchum won the K&N Pro Series East race at Bristol Motor Speedway, taking the lead from polesitter Harrison Burton on lap thirteen and holding off future NASCAR stars Kyle Benjamin, Justin Haley, Kaz Grala, and Todd Gilliland in a late restart.
Chad Finchum Career
Early Career (2011-2016)
Finchum’s early career centered on the K&N Pro Series East, where he raced part-time while finishing high school. His two top-ten finishes in 2011 and a seventh at Bristol in 2012 established him as a regular contender, even as he worked with limited equipment and smaller budgets.
The 2016 Bristol win marked the high point of his developmental years and cemented his relationship with Team McClure Inc. That victory, earned at a track he considers his home circuit, gave him the visibility needed to attract interest from NASCAR national series teams. In 2017, he ran one additional K&N race, finishing fifth at Bristol, while increasingly turning his attention to the Xfinity Series.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Breakthrough (2017-2024)
Finchum joined MBM Motorsports for two Xfinity Series races in 2017, including a debut at Dover International Speedway, and made five more starts that season at venues ranging from 1-mile Dover to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He cracked the top thirty three times during that rookie Xfinity campaign. In late November 2017, he was announced as the full-time driver of MBM’s No. 40 entry for the 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series season, finishing the year 30th in final point standings and leading second practice at Daytona International Speedway in July.
In 2019, Finchum ran nearly the full Xfinity schedule, missing only the Daytona opener. MBM switched to the No. 42 that year after purchasing owner points from Chip Ganassi Racing’s former Xfinity team, and rain-shortened qualifying at both the Rinnai 250 and Boyd Gaming 300 set the field by owner points, putting Finchum in a surprising second-place starting spot for both events. He continued with MBM through the early 2020s, and in 2024 he returned to drive the No. 66 part-time while also making a start for Joey Gase Motorsports at Darlington, running a throwback paint scheme modeled after Kevin Harvick’s first Cup Series win in 2001 at Atlanta.
NASCAR Cup Series Debut and Beyond (2018-2025)
On March 27, 2018, Finchum announced in a Bristol Motor Speedway promotional video that he would make his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series debut at that track the following month. He drove the No. 66 for MBM Motorsports, a team he already raced for in the Xfinity Series, and after starting 38th, he finished 33rd when he retired from the race on lap 335.
Finchum attempted the 2020 Daytona 500 but failed to qualify after finishing twentieth in Duel 1 of the Bluegreen Vacations Duels. He later ran the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, finishing last when overheating ended his day after nineteen laps, and added starts at Kansas and Texas, where he finished 39th and 35th, respectively. On December 21, 2024, MBM announced via Facebook that Finchum would return to drive for the team in 2025, beginning at Texas. He has continued to compete part-time, most recently with Garage 66 in the Cup Series.
Driving Style and Strengths
Finchum has built his reputation on short-track and intermediate-track tenacity, with a particular fondness for Bristol Motor Speedway, which he calls his home track. His development under Team McClure and MBM Motorsports has emphasized race-craft consistency, the ability to maximize equipment from smaller teams, and a willingness to take on high-profile events like the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Xfinity race. His Bristol K&N win in 2016, in which he held off four future national series winners, remains the clearest showcase of his race-leading poise under pressure.
Notable Races and Milestones
Beyond his 2016 K&N Pro Series East win at Bristol, Finchum’s most memorable moments include his 2018 Cup Series debut at the same track, his surprise front-row Xfinity starts at Atlanta and Las Vegas in 2019, his 2020 Daytona 500 attempt, and his 2024 throwback run at Darlington honoring Kevin Harvick’s first Cup win. He also drove the No. 08 for SS-Green Light Racing at Darlington in September 2023, marking the first time he raced for a team other than MBM in NASCAR’s top three series.
Chad Finchum Career Wins
Chad Finchum’s verified career win total is anchored by his 2016 K&N Pro Series East victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, his lone national NASCAR development series win to date. Across the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series, he has primarily been a part-time starter focused on marquee events rather than weekly competition, and he has not recorded a victory at either national level.
K&N Pro Series East Highlights
Finchum’s signature result came on the way to his only series win, at Bristol in 2016, where he passed Harrison Burton on lap thirteen and survived late-race restarts against Kyle Benjamin, Justin Haley, Kaz Grala, and Todd Gilliland. He also recorded top-ten finishes at Bowman Gray Stadium, Gresham Motorsports Park, and a fifth at Bristol in 2017. His 2010 Tennessee NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship is his most prominent short-track title.
Other Wins and Performances
Outside the K&N ranks, Finchum’s résumé features more than 200 go-kart wins, accumulated between the ages of seven and thirteen at venues across Tennessee, along with success in Bandolero, Legends, and late model competition at Kingsport Speedway. These developmental results laid the foundation for his move into NASCAR’s national ladder.
Chad Finchum Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Public information about Chad Finchum’s immediate family is limited, and detailed details about parents or siblings have not been widely published. What is clear is that he grew up immersed in East Tennessee’s short-track racing culture, and he began competing at Dumplin Valley Raceway as a child, an environment that helped shape his path to NASCAR.
Personal Life
Chad Finchum graduated from Halls High School in Halls Crossroads, Tennessee, balancing his education with a demanding travel schedule through the K&N Pro Series East and later the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He continues to be based in the Knoxville area, the same region where his racing journey began.
2025 Season Performance
Chad Finchum’s 2025 season is structured around a part-time Cup Series schedule with Garage 66 in the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse. On December 21, 2024, MBM Motorsports announced that Finchum would drive for the team in 2025 beginning at Texas, giving him a foundation of confirmed starts to build the year around.
Coming off his 2024 Xfinity campaign that included both MBM and Joey Gase Motorsports appearances, Finchum enters 2025 focused on maximizing opportunities in the Cup Series garage while continuing to develop relationships with smaller, owner-operator teams. His mix of superspeedway, intermediate, and short-track dates gives him a varied slate to chase stronger qualifying runs and potential top-thirty results.
With the 2025 Cup Series schedule still unfolding, Finchum’s outlook centers on consistency, clean finishes, and the occasional standout qualifying effort similar to the second-place starts he produced at Atlanta and Las Vegas in 2019. His experience and the momentum from a confirmed multi-team arrangement suggest a campaign built on steady accumulation of seat time rather than a full points run.