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Codie Rohrbaugh: One More Shot

Topics: Codie Rohrbaugh, Bojangles’ 250

Codie Rohrbaugh: One More Shot

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
October 17, 2014

Codie Rohrbaugh, driver of the No. 05 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet SS in X-1R Pro Cup Series competition for Grant County Mulch Racing.

HICKORY, North Carolina (October 17, 2014) - - One more shot.

That’s all X-1R Pro Cup Series driver Codie Rohrbaugh has left in his attempt to score his first career victory, as the 2014 season draws to a close this weekend at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in Saturday night’s Bojangles’ 250.

And not only is the fan-favorite Rohrbaugh looking for that coveted checkered flag, but his Grant County Mulch Racing team are eager to rebound from a mechanical failure in the most recent race at Lonesome Pine (Va.) Raceway.

“Yeah, we’re still bummed about the rear-end failure at Lonesome Pine,” said Rohrbaugh. “We qualified fifth and thought we were going to have a good night. As quick as you think it’s going to be a positive night, the tables turn. But, I guess that’s why they call it racing.”

But, no matter what the checkered flag brings for the part-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East driver at Hickory, the amount of experience and success he’s inhaled this season have made memories that will last a lifetime.

“It’s hard to believe that there’s just one left this season,” mentioned Rohrbaugh, driver of the No. 05 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Impala. “It’s been a (pretty) good season. No complaints. We’ve made some mistakes, but we’ve learned from them and it has made us an even better team. Hopefully we can go to Hickory this weekend and end our year on a high note.”

While Rohrbaugh enjoys competing at Hickory, he destined to improve on his finishes.

In both of his prior starts at the 0.5-mile paved oval, Rohrbaugh has qualified eighth and finished 11th in both attempts. This weekend, the rising star is hoping that the cautiously-aggressive approach they’ve used recently will pay off in the 12th race of the season.

“Hickory is a neat place with a lot of rich (NASCAR) history,” added Rohrbaugh. “In my opinion, it’s a place where momentum is everything, especially in the turns. I want my No. 05 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Impala to roll through the corner, so I can pick up the throttle on exit, especially in Turn 4. We’ve learned a lot since the spring race at Hickory and I’m excited to see how our car adapts to what we’ve learned since.”

Despite an eighth place finish at Lonesome Pine (Va.) two weeks ago, Rohrbaugh maintains third in the championship standings and barring any issues in the Bojangles’ 250, he’s likely to retain that spot, when the curtain falls on the season.

Furthermore, the Petersburg, West Virginia native continues to hold a commanding lead in the AFR Rookie of the Year standings, with a 66-point advantage over Doug Barnes Jr. Officially, he’ll be crowned Rookie of the Year on Saturday night.

“We were hoping to maybe sneak up there and grab second in the standings, but our hiccup at Lonesome Pine prevented that from happening,” sounded Rohrbaugh. “But, I think we can go out there and drive hard on Saturday night and know no matter where we finish, we should be able to claim third in points and celebrate as Rookie of the Year.

“That’s important to me to win Rookie of the Year. We’re still itching towards a win and it would be so sweet to put a period on that with a win in the Bojangles’ 250. It’s not going to be easy. We know the competition will be tough, but we’ll give it everything we have.”

As the calendar reaches the end of its cycle for 2014, Rohrbaugh and his team are already focused ahead to 2015.

“I’m hoping we’ll be able to announce our plans by Thanksgiving,” he mentioned. “We just have a lot to consider and we want to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our team. We’re going to be racing and (I) can’t wait to announce our plans soon.”

Rohrbaugh has 14 career X-1R Pro Cup Series starts to his credit. He made his debut in 2013 at the Motor Mile in Fairlawn, Virginia. In those runs, he has achieved two top-fives and 10 top-10s, including a career-best second at Coastal Plains (N.C.) Speedway in September 2014. His best starting position of second occurred twice in 2014 at Motor Mile (Va.) Speedway and at Coastal Plains (N.C.) Speedway in September.

The Bojangles’ 250 (93.75 miles / 250 laps) is set for Saturday night, October 18 with a scheduled green flag shortly after 7:00 p.m.

For more on Codie Rohrbaugh, please visit CodieRohrbaugh.com.

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