Catchfence

LONG POND, Pennsylvania (August 9, 2011) – - In their third consecutive ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards race, Randy Hill Racing has shown it can be a threat. Under the direction of Spraker Racing Enterprises and crew chief Jeff Spraker with driver Casey Roderick, the RHR team competed at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway this past weekend. Unfortunately, the team continues to be snakebitten by bad luck.

After two consecutive races of running the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Chevrolet Impala, the RHR team showed up this week at the 2.5-mile oval with an eye-opener No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford Fusion decked out in electrical blue flames.

With one practice session set for the ARCA competitors, Roderick and Spraker knew that they had to make the best of the time allowed to dial in their Ford Fusion. Their machine was more than dialed-in; it was “hooked up” as refereed by the driver. After stalking times in the top-five, Roderick surged to the top of the leader board where the RHR finished the session.

The team didn’t have much time to get jubilant about its effort as it shifted their focus towards qualifying, which they knew that had a shot at the pole. In time trials, Roderick, the avid Late Model pilot, maneuvered his automobile around the track in 53.967 seconds at 166.769 miles per hour, surging the team to the top of the qualifying rundown. Many, including RHR, expected the time to stand but as time trials pressed on, the air temperatures dropped considerably which allowed the track to become more faster and that led to the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford Fusion slip to third overall in the final lineup.

While disappointed that they didn’t obtain the pole for the 13th race of the season, the team still knew that they had a good car for race day.
Just two hours before the Pennsylvania ARCA 125 was set to take the green flag on Saturday, Mother Nature stormed her way into eastern Pennsylvania where she completely drenched the 2.5-mile oval leaving the race in jeopardy for the day. Shortly after 5:00 p.m., officials from ARCA and Pocono (Pa.) Raceway elected to postpone the race until after the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series dash, which was also delayed until Sunday morning.

Under overcast conditions, the field took the green flag shortly after 10:15 a.m., with Roderick falling to fourth by the completion of lap one. A massive mêlée ensued behind Roderick entering turn one which froze the field with the yellow flag being displayed.

Not wanting to take any unnecessary chances early on, Roderick and Co. we’re not concerned about losing a position on the track. When racing resumed on lap 14, the former Legends ace would move back into third before having to battle Chad Hackenbracht on lap 20. Settling for fourth, Roderick would soon have to fend off fellow Ford teammate Chad McCumbee a few laps later.

Roderick’s day would begin to take a sour turn after making contact with the wall: the Lawrenceville, Georgia native would have to make a green flag pit stop for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment. Frustration would soon spread in the pit area as the caution flag would waive just two laps later.

Spraker elected to keep his driver out on the race track which theoretically put the No. 08 Randy Hill Racing Ford Fusion on the tail end of the lead lap.

On the restart, Roderick would fight leaders Ty Dillon and Max Gresham hard to maintain a spot on the lead lap but an unexpected tap from Gresham would send the No. 08 spinning wildly in turn one before making contact with the wall. Heavily damaged, Roderick climbed from his machine and made the mandatory trip to the infield care center where he was checked and released. The team had to settle with a 30th place finish.

“I don’t really know what to say,” said Roderick. “Randy Hill Racing, Spraker Racing Enterprises, Jeff (Spraker) and his team gave me an absolutely phenomenal racecar. We just can’t seem to catch a break. I’m pretty upset about the wreck, just because I feel it could have been avoided. I was trying to be respectful, but racing for something I knew we could earn. It’s a shame to see a good-looking car like we had all tore up. The car was tight there at the beginning of the race, but we were riding around just waiting to pit and then she just took off towards the wall coming out of the corner. That was the start of a good weekend gone haywire.”

Spraker also showing the same emotions as his driver offered. “We just can’t buy a break. Casey did a great job. To unload and go out there and set the fastest lap at a place that you’ve never been before that says a lot about his driving abilities. The crew did a good job and I want to thank Randy (Hill) for continuing to believe in us. We’ll just head back to the shop and regroup.”

For Randy Hill, a Texas Rancher, inventor and entrepreneur, his early experience in racing has definitely mounted the good and the bad, but he continues to be confident about his decision to go racing. “Racing is like any business, you’re going to go through some trials and tribulations. The team did a great job with the car. We were bad to the bone fast. I can’t ask for much more than that. It really would have been nice to have seen the checkered flag with a good finish, but we can’t dwell on this, we just have to stay motivated and move forward.”

Moving forward includes Randy Hill Racing making its presence known with Roderick in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) next Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International for the Zippo 200 at the Glen. The 2.45-mile paved road course is the next step towards RHR structure of building a successful NASCAR team. Further information about their Nationwide effort will be released soon.

Next up for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is the first of two dirt races of the season. The 14th race of the year steers the teams to Illinois before landing at the Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield) for the running of the Allen Crowe 100 set for Sunday, August 21.

Exiting Pocono, Roderick made his 10th career ARCA Racing Series start. In those 10 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.

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- Randy Hill Racing Press Release