(Photo by Jessica Edmiston Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – BILLINGS, Mont. (July 23, 2019) – Roger Crockett picked up a trio of top-10 finishes in Montana during the last two weekends.
He maneuvered from fifth to third place in a heat race before finishing where he started – ninth – in the Grizzly Nationals main event on July 12 at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade to kick off the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour competition in the state.
“We didn’t have speed all night,” he said. “We got a good start in the heat, but in the main event we didn’t have the speed to move forward. The track took rubber and wasn’t real easy to pass, but I felt like we should have been able to move forward some.”
The Grizzly Nationals finale rained out.
Crockett returned to action last Friday at Big Sky Speedway, where he placed fourth in a heat race before winning the B Main.
“The car felt okay in hot laps, but we were a little off in gearing,” he said. “We changed that and battled for a couple of laps and then the top three started to get away from us in the heat. At that point we were frustrated with not having speed in the car. I did some drastic things for the B Main and the car was a million times better. We won that and left the car alone for the A Main.”
The changes worked well for the main event as Crockett hustled from 17th to fifth, which earned the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“If we had some yellows we would have been a contender,” he said. “The race went non-stop and we went from 17th to fifth. We made up five seconds over the course of the race. We were 10 seconds behind the leader by Lap 10. By the end of the race we were only five seconds back so we gained a lot of ground. We were really pleased with how the night ended.”
The momentum continued on Saturday when Crockett won a heat race before he placed third in the A Main.
“We got a good draw and won the heat race from second,” he said. “We drew the No. 1 pill for the feature and led a little bit. The track condition was really good around the top, but I wasn’t quite maneuverable in traffic. The lapped cars were racing really, really hard and I wasn’t aggressive enough. I gave those guys an easier time than I should have. Ultimately we need to get the car better, but what a difference of having some speed.”
The podium finish was Crockett’s seventh top five of the season.
Crockett will take this weekend off before competing in the 29th annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, which is held Aug. 1-3 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 12 – Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Mont. – Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 9 (9).
July 19 – Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Mont. – Heat race: 4 (3); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 5 (17).
July 20 – Big Sky Speedway in Billings, Mont. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 3 (1).
SEASON STATS –
21 races, 1 win, 7 top fives, 14 top 10s, 16 top 15s, 20 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Aug. 1-3 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, for the 29th annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_Rocket_11
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roger.crockett.11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therocket11/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Weld Wheels
Founded in 1967, Weld Wheels is the undisputed leader in maximum performance wheels. Whether it’s hard core off road, on the track, or on the street, Weld Wheels has unleashed the performance potential of all types of machines for more than 50 years. For more information, visit http://www.WeldWheels.com.
“I’ve driven for other people that have had other wheels and I’ve banged off walls and dismounted and mounted tires,” Crockett said. “I can’t imagine running a different wheel. The durability of Weld Wheels is second to none. It’s pretty rare to get a flat tire from contact with the wall or another car.”
Crockett would also like to thank Route 66 Chevrolet, Route 66 Nissan, BC Motorsports, Rocket Designs, FK Rod Ends, Olson Custom Designs, JR-1 Chassis, Champion Racing Oil, Tracker Native Tobacco, Bell Helmets, PAC Racing Springs/Schroeder Series Torsion Bars and KSE Racing Products for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 23, 2019
- Article Date: 7/23/2019 by Inside Line Promotions