Casey Roderick, Randy Hill Racing Derailed In Lucas Oil Raceway Debut

Casey Roderick, Randy Hill Racing Derailed In Lucas Oil Raceway Debut

Topics: Casey Roderick, Ansell Protective Gloves 200

Casey Roderick, Randy Hill Racing Derailed In Lucas Oil Raceway Debut

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Randy Hill Racing
August 1, 2011

CLERMONT, Indiana (August 1, 2011) - - Casey Roderick, Jeff Spraker and Randy Hill Racing proved they can be race contenders with their second straight ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. However, bad luck once again plagued the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Chevrolet Impala in the Ansell Protective Gloves 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway (LOR).

Armed with the same car the team participated with two weeks prior at Iowa Speedway, Roderick and Co. set out to make a statement in the lone practice session at the historic short track. Making noise is exactly what they did as Roderick soared his No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Chevrolet to the top of the board for much of the practice before having to settle for fourth quickest overall.

Knowing

that they had a good race car, Roderick and Spraker consulted and made a few minor adjustments hoping to give the team a chance at their first pole. Giving it his all in qualifying, Roderick whipped his machine around the track to a time of 22.641 miles per hour or 109.076 miles per hour, landing them exactly where they practiced, fourth.

At the drop of the green flag, Roderick hovered safely in the top-five. Finding himself in torrid battles with some of ARCA’s finest, the Lawrenceville, Georgia native continued to maneuver fast lap times.

Spraker opted to bring his driver down pit road on lap 62 for four tires and fuel but the driver slid through his pits forcing him to back-up before his team could service his vehicle. Roderick was also ticketed for entering pit road too fast which forced the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Chevrolet Impala to start at the tail end of the longest line.

Mired deep in the field but in the high teens on the race track, Roderick had to show patience as he worked his way through the field. Cleverly maneuvering his way through his contenders, Roderick had climbed into the 12th position by lap 68.

The yellow flag waived a lap later with Roderick picking up another spot and hoisting the 11th position. Spraker kept his protégé on the race track, restarting with his sights set on bolting back towards the top-five.

Roderick’s night turned tragic on lap 81 when his right front tire gave way sending him into the outside wall. The former Legends star was able to drive his Chevrolet bowtie back to the pits where the team changed tires and sent their driver back on the race track. Ultimately though, Roderick would return to pit lane and make the turn into the garage as suspension issues would keep the team from completing the 12th race of the season.

The team would be credited with a 31st place finish.

“I have to thank Jeff Spraker, Spraker Racing Enterprises and Randy Hill Racing for the opportunity to drive here at Lucas Oil Raceway,” sounded Roderick. “Our car was really, really good. I messed up by overshooting the pits and speeding and I’m sorry to the guys about that. We were able to work our way back towards the front when without warning the car just shot up into the wall. I hate it. We’ll head to Pocono next weekend and see if we can’t get a finish that we rightfully deserve.”

While also disappointed with the outcome, Spraker continued to praise his pilot. “Casey is such a joy to work with,” the NASCAR veteran said. “He’s fast everywhere he goes. He made a mistake, but that’s bound to happen with a rookie. I think he learned from it though. Nothing we could do about the tire failure, it’s just one of the flaws to racing.”

For Randy Hill, a Texas rancher, inventor and entrepreneur, he was pleased with the day, despite the end result. “This is racing and stuff like this is going to happen, but everyone knew we were here again,” he said. “Casey, Jeff and the crew should be proud of themselves for having such a stout race car even though we didn’t finish where we wanted to. We’ll go to Pocono and just see if we can’t steal the spotlight.”

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series is a return to trip to the “Tricky Triangle” at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for the running of the Pennsylvania 125. The 50-lap shootout is set for Saturday, August 6 with live coverage on the SPEED channel beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Exiting LOR, Roderick made his 10th career ARCA start on Thursday night. In his previous nine outings, Roderick has scored one win (New Jersey Motorsports Park), two top-fives and three top-10s. He also hoisted a pole in his road racing debut at Palm Beach (Fla.) International Raceway in February 2010.

For more on Randy Hill Racing, please visit randyhillracing.com.

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Tweet with us through Twitter at @RandyHillRacing.

PHOTO CAPTION: The No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Chevrolet Impala SS driven by Casey Roderick in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

NAME: Chris Knight, Knight Motorsports Management
PHONE: 239.834.9797
EMAIL: chris@chrisknightpr.com