Posted on Wed, Oct. 12, 2005





Crocker's 2006 schedule changed from Busch to Truck series

By JIM UTTER

ThatsRacin.com Writer


Erin Crocker, who was originally scheduled to run full-time in the NASCAR Busch Series with Evernham Motorsports next season, will instead compete in the Craftsman Truck Series and run a handful of Busch races in 2006, ThatsRacin.com has learned.
Crocker, 24, has run a limited schedule of Busch and Automobile Racing Club of America series races this season. In six races in ARCA, Crocker won two poles, and had four top-five and five top-10 finishes.

In two Busch Series starts, Crocker finished 39th and 35th and was involved in an accident in both races. She suffered a cracked rib in the Sept. 24 race at Dover, Del.

On Sept. 9 at Richmond, Va., Evernham Motorsports announced Crocker, 24, would run the entire Busch schedule in 2006 in the No. 98 Dodge with sponsorship from General Mills.

Team owner Ray Evernham was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but was expected to discuss Crocker's situation Thursday at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Crocker earned a bachelor's degree in Industrial and Management Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. in 2003. During that time she drove sprint cars in the USAC Silver Crown and World of Outlaws series.

In October of 2004, Crocker became the first female driver to win an Outlaws race, winning the preliminary at Tulare, Calif.

Crocker is the 11th female driver to compete in the Busch Series.

I have mixed feelings about this. I like Erin, I really do. She's awesome. I think it sucks that they said she was gonna have a full-time Busch ride, then backed it down to a Truck ride. That being said, I think that it'll be better for her this way. I think that putting her in the Trucks will get her more experience and she'll be 100% imporved when she comes over for a full-time Busch season...I'm assuming in 2007. It's a good move to do it this way, they just should have done it to start with.

I'd like to hear more from Ray on this one.

General Mills going to still be the sponsor for the truck?? If she's going to run in the Truck Series, whose team would it be a part of??? Is Ray building trucks?

Woah buddy.

I'm with you.

I want to hear more from Ray about this one.

Woah! I was really looking forward to seeing her full time in Busch next year, but at least this will still give her valuable experience. I'm hoping this was Ray's decision and not just a sponsorship issue.

definately

I also want to hear the details about this. Poor Erin-I know drivers get promised rides that end up falling through all the time, but with the press conference and the Wheaties box and all that, this has to feel kinda harsh.

I'm glad she has a Truck ride (at least for now); I guess not a lot of people get those. But I remember that Dodge just announced is taking most of its "resources" (money) from the Truck series and putting it into the Cup series. So while that is really really great for Kasey, it might mean more bad news for Erin when she gets her truck. :( If it's supposed to be a Dodge, anyway.

i sure hope it wasn't the sponsors...if it is I'm gonna blame Justin "i wreck Erin b/c I'm jealous" Labonte for everything. :nono

I really don't think Ray pulled her because of the accidents cause it was not her fault and he knows that it wasn't

Yea, me too

It would still keep her on track for a Cup debut in 2008, just do a season in trucks and a season in busch then move to cup. She would continue to gain valuable experience, for sure.

But I am with the rest of ya too, I wanna hear the details from Ray.

I forgot about Dodge cutting back on the trucks. Ray is under contract with them so he can't field anything else. So she would have to be in a Ram.

Maybe we will hear more this weekend.

Woah, just when we thought we had the busch thing pretty much figured out this gets pulled on us???? Well, now we are back to the drawing board with more questions than answers.

I was pretty disappointed to hear this, but at least I will have more of a reason to watch trucks.

And it will be interesting to see what Ray says about the situation.

I def want to hear more about this

I really want to hear more from Ray about this. I was excited about her Busch season. I am sure that Ray has a good explanation for this. I think that we just need to hear more from Ray.... :unsure:

UPDATE 3: "A large part is what our partners want and if they are committed (to the change). Judging by the two Busch races, which is one part of what we looked at, I feel we went back to the plan that I felt was the best plan. Erin has another Busch race this year and obviously she would have run well at the Richmond and Dover races, and she will in the future as long as no one runs in the back of her again. They were factors, but I don’t want to say it was the determining factor, because it would be unfair to her to judge her off those two races. Parts of the factors were the number of Cup guys that are going to be in Busch next year." - Ray Evernham regarding the decision to move Crocker to CTS rather than Busch in 07. (ClearBlue PR) (10-12-05)