Keeping your cool when things are going bad
By Erin Crocker, Special to NASCAR.COM
September 20, 2006
09:50 AM EDT (13:50 GMT)




Another rough weekend.

We ran over something in practice at New Hampshire International Speedway, I think a piece of lead, and things went downhill from there.

That screwed up the whole balance of the truck and then I got up into the marbles and scraped the fence. So we pulled out the backup truck, which always makes for a nightmare of a practice set.

Qualifying 28th in the backup wasn't all that bad all things considering. We were up to 18th and on the lead lap when the fuel pump broke and we finished 32nd.

It was kind of a freak deal, but again a terrible result and frustrating weekend. It was really disappointing because I had a lot of family there to watch me at what I consider my home track.

At least this weekend we were competitive and it helped my confidence. The trucks I ran with and had passed finished well into the top 15. I'm trying to convince myself that at least we are capable.

It's frustrating for everyone, but there's no doubt in my mind the team is putting a 100 percent effort into it. A fuel pump issue is a quality control thing. We don't make our own fuel pumps. It can happen to anybody.

Unfortunately, we need to have a good run. The season is winding down and every week we say we're going to dig out of this slump, and every week something happens.

It affects sponsors. It affects the team.

As far as our deal with Betty Crocker, we don't know exactly what we're doing for next year. As of right now it looks like they're coming back. We're going to try to run a full truck schedule and hopefully run a few Busch races and eventually a sprinkling of Nextel Cup races.

But you can't help but worry about sponsors and things like that when things are going bad. This is my lifelong dream. This is what I've worked really hard to do.

To know that I may not get there, of course it's scary and frustrating. Every professional athlete when they go through a tough time or a slump can't help but worry about that.

I can't even worry about that right now. You try to put it out of your mind, but of course it makes me nervous. Everybody is anxious to get a good finish. This is what I want to do and this is what I've worked so hard to do.

General Mills has been very behind me from the beginning of this. They stuck with me through a lot of adversity. In the beginning we changed from Busch to trucks, and they really stuck behind me then.

I hope that doesn't change, but to be honest I'm not really involved in what goes on for next year. I'm just a driver, and we're still planning appearances and things for the future.

We're heaving to Las Vegas on Friday for one of our few open tests of the season. We're going to bring more support staff, maybe more engineers. I'm looking forward to it.

We haven't been on a track like that in a little while. The last similar to Vegas was Texas, and we were strong there until we had engine troubles.

We'll test all day Friday and it's a one-day show on Saturday. That's a lot to do in two days, but we did the same deal in Charlotte earlier in the year and ran well.

I like testing. That's one thing I miss since NASCAR has cut back on the opportunities.

I like working with all the engineers and all the data. I like having the luxury to practice with no time restraints.

I also understand they cut out a lot of tests for costs, even though for a young driver like me the more I could test the better I would get. But it's the same for everybody, so it is what it is.

It's getting to the point where I have nothing to lose out there. The good part is I'm getting a lot of support in the garage.

Last weekend, some real high up people at NASCAR made their way to talk to me and give me words of encouragement like, "We know what you're going through. It's not always easy.''

That meant a lot. It let me know that I'm not crazy and I really can do this and that I'm just going through a bad time.

Erin Crocker is stepping up a program that she hopes will land her in a fulltime Nextel Cup ride by driving in the Busch, Truck and ARCA Series for Evernham Motorsports. The youngest of five children, Crocker has been sharing weekly with NASCAR.com readers the ups and downs of her life on and off the track through staff writer David Newton.

She has no right to be in a Cup car yet. I don't understand the logic behind encouraging her to believe this.

She's not ready for Cup in my opinion. I could see her running a full Truck schedule with a few Busch races in there, but not Cup too.

alot of the open wheel racers did terrible in the busch and truck series and do good in the cup. It would be interesting to see her in a few races just to see how she'd do.

I was looking at another NASCAR board and saw the column below, turns out it was on Jayski today.

It refers to what I had read about a while back (and posted in the other thread) -people e-mailing Erin's sponsors. I guess someone got a response. I hope the part about people avoiding Evernham Motorsports sponsor's products and Dodge isn't true, though. :( But Erin and Ray had to realize they would get some kind of fan (even if it's a small amount of people) response and sponsor response - at least I hope they were thinking clearly enough to realize that.
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NASCAR Hardball: Crockers Problems Continue! Fan contacts Sponsor! :wacko:
Posted on September 20, 2006

By Paul Echols

Erin Crocker continues to have terrible luck in the Craftsman Truck Series. In the latest race at New Hampshire Erin finished a dismal 32nd due to a fuel pump failure. Erin backed up in the points as well to the 24th spot and is only 53 points from the 26th spot held by Bobby East. If Erin drops out of the top 25 she will miss getting any money from the point fund at the end of the year.

Erin is not the only driver that had an issue with Evernham engines. Kyle petty in the NASCAR Cup race also experienced an engine failure. In the course of this year there have been many Evernham engine failures. The Petty Enterprises cars both use Evernham engines and have had a lot of engine failures this year along with all of the Evernham teams. Looks like Ray needs to get a "Close Personal Relationship" with his engine department.

The TV media and the press have been keeping Evernham out of the spotlight since his last flare up with reporters over his relationship with his driver Erin Crocker.

A reader contacted one of Erin’s sponsors to let them know she would no longer use their products if they continued to sponsor Evernham and Crocker. The reader is a female and I thank her for forwarding the response. Here is the email and the sponsor response.

Dear Valued Consumer:

Thank you for contacting General Mills with your inquiry.

Thank you for your inquiry. General Mills reviews all affiliations and sponsorships on a regular basis and will consider your comments as we review our association with Erin Crocker.

We hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know if we can help you again.

Sincerely,

Tracy Boyd Consumer Services

Original Message:

I really like Yoplait but after finding out it is a General Mills product I can no longer purchase it. As long as General Mills supports Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham in Nascar my family will not spend money on your products. :

This email proves that fan loyalty works both ways. I have talked to other fans who feel the same way and are boycotting General Mills products. They all feel that they deserve to know the truth about the “Close Personal Relationship” between Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham. One fan estimated that he spends $2000,00 for him and his wife to go to one race a year and cheer on their drivers. That includes airfare, hotel, rental car, tickets, pit passes, souvenirs , food and beverages. For $2000.00 he wants to know the character of the driver and owner he is cheering for. Can you blame him?

The loyalty is also spilling into other Evernham drivers and their sponsors. Right now if it is an Evernham sponsor some fans are avoiding them. Mayfield fans especially are avoiding Dodge after the raw deal they think Mayfield received from Ray Evernham.

I applaud those that think Character is important and refuse to let their values be undermined by others lack of character or morality.

I didn't know Erin and Jeremy Mayfield will both be in the truck race this weekend. I'm guessing it won't be too much of a big deal, though this article calls it "the main story line".Article
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I predict that Jeremy ought to do well in that race---he'll have really good equipment under him, and the only way Erin will even be a factor is when he's running up front on a restart and she's one of those "lap down" cars on the inside. :)

They complain about the "engine" problems. It happens to everyone, hell even the great DEI engines have gone caput a few times this year. It happens especially to Dodges.

That makes me wonder though if there's something in the fundamental engineering of the Dodge engines that make them go away what seems like frequently. I especially wonder about the engines EMS leases to PE.

Even in production Dodge engines, there have always been a question about the durability of their product. They've come a long way, but, they are still not where they should be. The more influence that Daimler-Benz has on Dodge, the better their engines have and will become, but that influence is taking time.