McCumbee began racing go-karts at age ten and amassed more than one hundred victories in World Karting Association Dirt Series events between 1995 and 2000. He captured the Allison Legacy Series National and Regional championships alongside Rookie of the Year honors in his first full season in 2001, then repeated as national champion in 2002, becoming the only two-time champion in series history. In 2003 he transitioned to late model racing at Myrtle Beach Speedway, where he became the youngest rookie winner in track history.
McCumbee made his ARCA RE/MAX Series debut in 2004 at Michigan International Speedway for Hillenburg Motorsports, ending his run in a dramatic flip after 21 laps. His first full ARCA season in 2005 yielded a fourth-place points finish, one pole position, and ten top-ten finishes.
McCumbee moved to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006 with MRD Motorsports, then transferred to SS-Green Light Racing when MRD folded mid-season. He recorded two seventh-place finishes and ended the year seventeenth in the standings, briefly joining Chevrolet's driver development program. He also made his lone NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start that season's equivalent period — a substitute appearance in 2007 for Petty Enterprises at the Pocono 500, finishing 25th, and again at Michigan where mechanical trouble pushed him to 41st.
In the truck series through 2007 and 2008 McCumbee showed consistent improvement, earning a career-best second-place finish at Charlotte in 2008 and finishing eleventh in the season standings. His contract to drive the No. 45 Sprint Cup car full-time for Petty Enterprises in 2009 evaporated when Gillett Evernham Motorsports and Petty Enterprises merged to form Richard Petty Motorsports. He returned to the truck series for 2009 with SS-Green Light Racing in the No. 7, recording two early top-ten finishes before funding shortfalls cost him starts during the season.
McCumbee also won his first two ARCA races in 2007, at Nashville Superspeedway and Pocono Raceway, driving for Andy Belmont. He signed with Belmont again in 2010 to run the remainder of the ARCA Remax Series season in the No. 1 Ford.
After departing the NASCAR truck ranks McCumbee transitioned to sports car racing with C.J. Wilson's program in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge. The partnership paid off in 2015 when McCumbee and co-driver Stevan McAleer won the ST division championship, the high point of his road-racing career to date.
In parallel with his driving career McCumbee co-founded McCumbee-McAleer Racing, which competes in the Michelin Pilot Challenge, the Mazda MX-5 Cup, and the IMSA Ford Mustang Challenge. He separately fields Late Model Stock Car entries through Chad McCumbee Racing in the CARS Tour, Virginia Triple Crown, and select major LMSC events.
McCumbee's career arc — from karting records to ARCA wins to a NASCAR Cup start to a sports car championship — illustrates the diverse pathways available to drivers who combine raw speed with entrepreneurial team-building. His 2015 IMSA championship and ongoing team ownership keep him active in multiple disciplines of American motorsport.
Gallery · 4 related images
