DISAPPOINTMENT AT KANSAS FOR BILL ELLIOTT’S DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

DAWSONVILLE, GA (October 1, 2010) - Rising racing star Casey Roderick and his race teams have had their share of bad luck in their racing endeavors this season, from broken motors to mishaps on the race track.  But what makes a successful team is being prepared and willing to turn that around. Bill Elliott’s Driver Development team members have shown they have the tools and talent to be successful, often rising to meet challenges on short notice. 

 This weekend’s Kansas Lottery 150 was one of those challenges, but it did not end well as the engine on Roderick’s Dodge blew before he completed a lap in the race, leaving him with a disappointing 36^th-place finish and his crew with nothing to show for two weeks of hard work.

   Two weeks prior to the 150, officials from Phoenix Racing informed Elliott that they were not prepared to field another car for Roderick after his on-track incident at Chicagoland totaled the car they had hoped to run at Kansas as well. 

  So the “never give up, never surrender” attitude took hold in Elliott’s Dawsonville shop, and Jim Barfield led shop members in preparing Roderick’s Iowa car for the Kansas event.  That was a tall order since the added work had to be done in the middle of an already hectic season of racing. But as usual they were up to the task, and left for Kansas with a mini-team consisting of four crew members, plus Roderick and Elliott. 

 But there would be no storybook ending to this tale.

 Five laps into practice Roderick radioed that there was no oil pressure, and Elliott made the call to come in and change the engine.

  “I just didn’t want to take any chances after the motor blowing up in New Jersey,” said Elliott.  Crew members including Elliott went to work and completed the engine change in time for qualifying.  Elliott told Roderick to take it easy and feel the car out as best as he could since he had no practice laps with the engine.  Roderick did as he was told and qualified a respectable 16^th.

 The same strategy would apply to the beginning of the race until the crew could make necessary adjustments. But coming to the green flag something in the new motor broke, and Roderick would be relegated to the 36^th finishing position.

 “Despite the bad luck with the two motors I think we had a pretty decent car from what I could tell in three or four laps,” Roderick said. “Nobody gave up on this Bill Elliott racing team. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess. 

 “I want to thank Bill for taking me to Kansas, and also thank all the guys that came together as one and made it happen. I also would like to thank [Phoenix Racing owner] James Finch for his help and support.”
  Roderick said that despite the setback at Kansas and the loss of his ride with Phoenix, he’s still trying to look at the future in a positive manner.

 “I would like to do some Nationwide racing or maybe a full ARCA deal….just something steady so I can get the seat time I need and show people I can do this as a driver,” he said. “A steady Nationwide ride would be the ultimate goal, but the economy is not on our side right now which makes it even tougher.”

MEDIA CONTACT

Cindy k. Elliott

cindy@billelliott.com

 The Lawrenceville, Ga., teenager started the weekend well, qualifying third for the Ansell Protective Gloves 150 ARCA race with a speed of 177.043 miles per hour and fastest overall in the last practice.

  Roderick entered the race fresh off his first career ARCA victory, at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Aug. 15, but his success on the road course didn’t carry over to the high-banked superspeedway.

At the green flag, he raced hard with the leaders but slipped back to the fifth position. By Lap Five Roderick still racing hard and decided to make it three wide with Chad McCumbee and Mike Kile when he slipped into the loose gravel causing Kile to turn into McCumbee on Lap Seven.  Roderick and McCumbee both suffered severe damage to their cars and were retired for the race.  

 The hard hit from the wall likely wasn’t as tough on Roderick as having to face his car owners James Finch and Bill Elliott afterward.

 The two veteran racers informed Roderick of one of the basic facts of successful racing – races aren’t won in the opening laps and racing too hard early on usually means a driver won’t be around when it really counts.

  Roderick said he got the message from his owners.

 I think I was just being too aggressive too soon for the situation,” he said. “I had a free and fast car that needed to finish…

 “But I will learn from my mistake and apply that to the next race.  These mile-an-a-half tracks are new to me, and it’s something that I’m going to have to learn and deal with.”

 Patrick Sheltra scored the victory, his second straight on the ARCA circuit.

 Roderick’s next ARCA start will again be with Phoenix Racing at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 30.

The 100-lap, 150-mile Ansell Protective Gloves 150 will air live on SPEED at 6 p.m. Central. Live timing and scoring and live audio coverage of all events will be presented by ARCA Nation and the ARCA Racing Network at ARCARacing.com.

Click on the photo of Ray Cook on the bottom right hand side of this home page to vote.

Ray Cook is a supporter of the Bill Elliott Driver Development Program.

 Roderick, the former Legends champion from Lawrenceville, Ga., enters the race fresh off his first career ARCA victory, at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Aug. 15.

 But Chicagoland presents a much different challenge than the road course at New Jersey.

  “I’m just looking forward to going up there with Phoenix Racing,” said Roderick, whose Chevrolet Impala will be fielded jointly by Phoenix and the Bill Elliott Driver Development program. “These mile-and-a-half tracks are new to me, and it may take me a little while to get used to them and to keep the car under me for the race.

 “We just need to go out there and have a good solid top-five finish and come home with a complete car.” 

 Roderick spent last weekend working as a mechanic with the Phoenix team and driver Ryan Newman with their Nationwide Series entry at Bristol Motor Speedway, and impressed many in the Bristol garage with his willingness to pitch in and work on the car.

 But now it’s his turn to take the wheel, and Steve Barkdoll, general manager for Phoenix Racing, said he’s anxious to see how Roderick adapts to a bigger and faster race track than he’s been accustomed to.

  “Were excited to get Casey to a superspeedway now that he has turned 18, to get him more experience,” Barkdoll said. “Coming off of the win at New Jersey we hope to back it up with a good solid run.”

 Roderick’s mentor and car owner Bill Elliott also has high hopes for the youngster, who now has a win, a seventh place finish, a runner-up finish and a pole in four career ARCA starts. He also was leading the race at Palm Beach, Fla., when he broke a transmission.

  “I think Casey will do well in Chicago, and we will try to get up there to support him,” said Elliott, who likely will be pressed into service as the truck driver for his son Chase’s race team this weekend. “But if we don’t, he’s in good hands with [team owner James Finch]’s guys.” 

 MEDIA CONTACT:

Cindy Elliott
cindy@billelliott.com

Pit Pass USA tonite at 8P ET.  You can listen in at www.powerupchannel.com

August 16, 2010) – Casey Roderick, who turned 18 just eight days ago, took a giant step in his young racing career on Sunday. The Lawrenceville, Ga. driver scored his biggest racing triumph ever by winning the Garden State 150 presented by the American Red Cross at New Jersey Motorsports Park.  The former Legends champion who is now part of Bill Elliott’s Driver Development program became the 11^th first-time winner on the ARCA circuit this season.

 And he had to overcome adversity to do it. When he fired up his No. 51 Phoenix Racing/Bill Elliott Racing Dodge on Sunday morning, he’d had only a limited amount of experience on a 2.25-mile road course he’d never seen before this past weekend other than on the YouTube videos he studied beforehand.

 “We blew a motor after four laps of practice Saturday, so Lap One [of the race] was like I was blindfolded,” Roderick said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

  Roderick started at the rear of the field as a result of not having a new motor in the car in time to qualify. 

Wheeling in and out of the “S” turns, around other cars down straightaways and around sharp turns Roderick had moved into 10th position by Lap Six of the 67-lap/150-mile race. 

 Roderick’s quick advance caused crew chief Jim Barfield to abandon his initial pit strategy.

 “I had planned to stop as soon as we could to get track position,” Barfield said. “But Casey was moving up so fast I had to change my strategy to pit with the leaders almost as soon as the race began.”

Caution was displayed on the field on Lap Seven, and on the restart, Roderick gained two more positions.  By Lap 12 he was up to the seventh position and just eight seconds behind the leader Justin Marks, an ARCA regular.

   By lap 15 Roderick was up to the fifth position behind Marks, Tim George Jr., Tom Hessert and Chris Buescher.  Roderick maintained his position, but his advance was slowed by excessive tire wear from his hard charge from the rear.

   Still on the move, Roderick was gaining on Buescher for the fourth position.  The two youngsters [18 and 17 years old] teamed up and passed Hessert who was in the third position just as Marks, the leader, pitted on Lap 28 and relinquishing the lead to George.

 That put Roderick in the third position just before he made a pit stop at  Lap 29 for four fresh tires and fuel.  An excellent stop by his pit crew put Roderick back out in front of Buescher and back on the speedway in the ninth position overall. By lap 33 Roderick was back to fourth position behind leader Hessert who had still not pitted and ran out of fuel on lap 33. 

Roderick’s charge caught the attention of the radio broadcasters covering the race, and they informed their audience of Roderick’s strong run in just his third ARCA start. In those three starts, he’d already had a pole, a runner-up finish and was leading when he broke a transmission at Palm Beach, Fla.

 And he wasn’t through giving them things to talk about.

Roderick stopped for fuel on lap 41, and on the restart with 25 laps to go, he was in second place behind Tim George Jr. 

 On the restart, Roderick was shuffled back to fourth position behind George, Dakoda Armstrong, and Joey Coulter.  On Lap 45 Roderick took third back from Armstrong on the inside line as they went through Turns Eight and Nine.  He grabbed second place from Coulter on Lap 49.

 Several ensuing caution periods set up a nine-lap sprint to the finish. Roderick and George collided in Turn Two, sending George and Armstrong off the track, while Roderick drove away.

 Roderick described the contact as “unintentional.”

“I was too close to him going into the corner, he braked, and then I was in it,” Roderick said. “He had a good race car and did an awesome job to be there in the lead.”

Coulter took the lead, with Roderick giving pursuit. Roderick passed Coulter on Lap 60, then slipped off the track. But one lap later, he closed the deal when Coulter wheel-hopped his car, allowing both Roderick and Buescher to pass.

“That was fun with Chris Buescher,” Roderick said. “I’ve raced with him for several years, including in Legends cars every time. We race hard, and it felt good to race him again. We beat and banged, but that’s part of racing.

“The young talent in ARCA is pretty good right now.”

A final caution flag set up the race’s last green flag start at Lap 65, and Roderick pulled away to  a lead of more than two seconds by the time the checkered flag flew.

  Roderick’s mentor and car owner Bill Elliott was driving the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford in the Sprint Cup race at Michigan at the same time as Roderick’s race, but he was quick to call with his congratulations.

 “That was pretty incredible,” Elliott said. “He never had even been there before.  Passing all of those cars on a road course…I’m impressed.

  “I just hope someone else out there with the financial backing to help Casey is as impressed as me.”

  For his part, Roderick was simply savoring the moment.

 “I’m just happy to be here,” he said.

 Roderick and the Bill Elliott team started the season running a mix of Late Model and ARCA races, but changed directions in late May to focus on the ARCA events as they will provide Roderick with TV exposure as well as the big-track experience he’ll need to step up to NASCAR’s elite divisions. But the change also meant the team had some catching up to do, as team owner Bill Elliott explained.

  “A lot goes in to the preparation of these cars, and it takes a lot of time and focus to come into the middle of a season in a class that is as strong as ARCA is today and run competitively,” Elliott said. “I am proud of the effort that everyone put forward and feel like we came away with the knowledge we need to go to the next event even stronger.”

 Roderick’s team also had to deal with a last-minute crew chief change as regular crew chief Jim Barfield’s mother passed away suddenly just as the team was preparing to leave for Iowa.

 Ricky Turner, Chase Elliott’s crew chief, filled in for Barfield, while young Elliott took over the spotter’s duties, replacing his father who was running the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Ford in the Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway.

  Despite having no crew members with experience at the Iowa track, Roderick immediately put the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Dodge in the top ten on the practice speeds chart and maintained his presence among 40 drivers there during both practice sessions. Roderick and Turner worked through changes to the chassis set-up, trying combinations for qualifying and for the race.

  Roderick qualified and started 19^th.  By Lap 14 he was up to 12^th and challenging ARCA regulars Mikey Kile and Chris Buescher for the 11^th and 10^th positions.  By Lap 34 he was in the top 10, and when the caution flag flew on Lap 39, he radioed to his crew that he was very pleased with his car. Roderick and Turner discussed possible improvements should they make a pit stop, but the two decided to stay on the track, and in doing so gained three positions.

 By the restart on Lap 45 there were only 17 drivers on the lead lap.  Roderick was racing in a group of strong competitors and passed Grant Enfinger and Ty Dillon while being passed himself and was in the sixth position when caution was displayed for the second time due to a crash by Steve Arpin. 

  Roderick brought the No. 51 down pit road for a fuel-only pit stop.  As Roderick was approaching his pit he took the car out of gear and lost power.  The crew pushed him to restart and Roderick, apologized saying the mistake was his fault.  Immediately, Turner came on the radio, saying “Clear your head and be sharp. We didn’t lose anything.”

  Roderick restarted 13th and moved back and forth between there and the 11th position for the next several laps.  Nearing the 75^th lap, Turner reported to Roderick that some drivers had to make green-flag pit stops due to tire wear and the absence of cautions. Roderick had moved into the 10th position as a result when he reported a vibration to the team. Timing worked to Roderick’s advantage when a caution, brought out by Joey Gase on Lap 87, gave him the opportunity to pit under caution for tires which would ultimately correct the vibration issue.   Now out of sequence with some of the drivers that pitted under green, Roderick restarted 13th.  By the half way mark at Lap 100 Roderick had worked his way back up to the ninth position.

  On lap 115 Turner asked Roderick how his car was.  Roderick replied, “Really good.” He continued to pass drivers, working his way into the sixth position by Lap 138 while racing around Frank Kimmel and Dillon for the next two positions.  By Lap 151 Roderick had worked his way into the top five with Tom Hessert leading Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Kimmel and Roderick. 

  Caution was displayed on Lap 152, and Roderick pitted for scuffed tires and restarted in the seventh position.  There were 42 laps left at the waving of the green flag.  Roderick again worked his way back up into the sixth position and was battling hard with Crafton, the Camping World Truck Series veteran, for the fifth position as Armstrong was reeling them both in from behind, making it a three-way battle.  Experience won out, and Roderick fell back to the seventh position as Armstrong and Crafton battled right in front of him for the remaining laps.  Roderick finished with a very respectable 7^th place finish.

  “I want to thank Phoenix Racing and Bill Elliott Racing for helping to get everything ready and putting in a good effort,” Roderick said. “I feel like we will be even better prepared for the next event.  I was happy with everything.  We needed longer runs.  From 45 to 65 laps on the tires I really hit it.

 “I know Jim [regular crew chief-Barfield] was wanting to be there, and I talked to him while I was at the track.

 “Our hearts go out to Jim and his family.”  

  Roderick’s next race is the South Jersey Building Trades 150 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.