Codie Rohrbaugh NASCAR K&N Pro Series East UPMC Health Plan 150 Preview

Codie Rohrbaugh NASCAR K&N Pro Series East UPMC Health Plan 150 Preview

Topics: UPMC Health Plan 150, Codie Rohrbaugh

Codie Rohrbaugh NASCAR K&N Pro Series East UPMC Health Plan 150 Preview

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
August 13, 2015

Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet SS UPMC Health Plan 150 Fast Facts

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Race No. 11, UPMC Health Plan 150, Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway, Smithton, Pa.

Race Information: Event: UPMC Health Plan 150, Saturday, August 15 at 9:00 p.m. Local Time Track: Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway Qualifying: Saturday, August 15 at 4:30 p.m. Local Time Track Length: 0.4 semi-banked oval.

Welcome Back Grant County Mulch Racing: After nearly a two-race sabbatical Grant County Mulch Racing returns to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East tour for Saturday night’s UPMC Health Plan 150 with rookie driver Codie Rohrbaugh aboard.

Last Time Out: In their third NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race of the season, Rohrbaugh returned to New Hampshire Motor Speedway hoping for a little luck at the “Magic Mile.”

Improving from last year’s 23rd place finish at NHMS, Rohrbaugh struggled to get the grip he needed in his No. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet halting his progress in the United Site Services 70.

Staying out of trouble, Rohrbaugh finished a respectable 19th after starting 16th and earning his second top-20 finish of the season.

Even Playing Field: While looking to make his fourth NASCAR K&N Pro Series start of the season, the rising star will make his first trip to Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway, putting him on a similar playing field as his colleagues at the 0.4 semi-banked oval with Saturday night’s anticipated slugfest being an inaugural event.

Yes We Will: With the lone inaugural race on deck for its competitors this weekend, NASCAR has scheduled an open test at the facility on Friday, August 14. Rohrbaugh led by crew chief Mark Huff plan to participate in the four and half hour test session, which will be broken up into two parts. 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon then 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Friday night.

You Went Where?!: While Rohrbaugh is excited to get back behind the wheel of a race car this weekend, the Petersburg, West Virginia native is still reflecting on his recent vacation in South Africa. With members of his family, For two weeks, Rohrbaugh toured the country, hunted and enjoyed some much needed rest and relaxation.

Locked In: One relief for the Grant County Mulch Racing (GCMR) this weekend is they won’t have to worry about making the field for the UPMC Health Plan 150. With 23 cars registered for the race, Rohrbaugh is guaranteed to start the race. With that security, the team will focus on their race day setup in their No. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet SS.

Meet Codie: Rohrbaugh will meet and greet race fans during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East autograph session on Saturday, August 15 from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. on the frontstretch at Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway.

Motordrome Speedway Fast Fact: Motordrome became NASCAR sanctioned in 1990 with Charlie Cragan, Steve Peles, Glen Gault, Jeff Dunmyer and Richard Mitchell all winning NASCAR Northeast Regions championships. It opened as a half-mile track in 1972 and was paved in 1989.

Chassis Intel: Mark Huff, crew chief Grant County Mulch Racing has elected to bring chassis number 001 to the 0.4 semi-banked oval this weekend. This Chevrolet SS is appearing in its fourth race of the season. This race chassis last competed in the K&N Pro Series East race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. It was also raced in the season-opener at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway in February and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in April. .

Grant County Mulch Racing, Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway, Pre-Race Quotes: Codie Rohrbaugh, driver of the No. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet SS:

On New Hampshire Motor Speedway: “We were hoping that New Hampshire Motor Speedway would go a little better than it did. We made some progress from when we were there last year, so it wasn’t a complete loss. Mark (Huff) and everyone on this Grant County Mulch Racing team have worked extremely hard to build fast race cars and unfortunately, we missed the boat a little bit at New Hampshire.

“Despite everything, we persevered and pulled through. We never gave up. We’ll take that 19th place finish in stride and look for a top-10 finish at Motordrome.”

On Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway: “The good thing is we’re all in the same boat. No one has ever been to Motordrome in a K&N car, so we’ll all be on a pretty even playing field during the first practice on Saturday afternoon.

“I think the test on Friday will be critical for everyone, because I feel like the team that has the most track time this weekend will be able to get their car handling the best and be a factor in the race. I’ve been told that this track is similar to New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway, so if that’s true we should be in good shape this weekend.”

On Future Outlook: “We’re going to Richmond and Dover for sure. Those are two races I’m really looking forward to. We’ll see how everything works out. There’s potential for another K&N race and maybe even something bigger and better by season’s end. We’ll see.

“We’re hunting sponsorship all the time, so we’ll just have to see how the cards play out. We’ll be fine though. We have a great time with a lot of ambition and goals and we’ll make best of any opportunity we’re given.”

PRIOR RESULTS:

Codie Rohrbaugh, Motordrome Speedway NKNPSE Performance Record:

Codie Rohrbaugh, Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway NKNPSE Performance Record:

No priors starts for Codie Rohrbaugh at Motordrome (Pa.) Speedway, inaugural event.

The UPMC Health Plan 150 (150 laps / 75 miles) is the 11 of 14 races on the 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule. Practice begins for the one-day show on Saturday, August 15 from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. A final practice session has been etched in from 1:45 p.m. –2:30 p.m. Qualifying is set for later in the day at 4:30 p.m. The event will take the green flag just after 9:00 p.m. later that night. The event will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on NBC Sports Network, Thursday, August 20 at 7:00 p.m.

PHOTO CAPTION: Codie Rohrbaugh, driver of the No. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East (NKNPSE) competition for Grant County Mulch Racing.

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