Erin Crocker has been under intense media and fan scrutiny during her entire rookie season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Not only is she a female driver, which always draws added attention, she's the only female to win in one of the toughest forms of racing in the country - the World of Outlaws sprint car series. The icing of the cake is that she drives for one of the most potent minds in all of NASCAR, Ray Evernham.
Evernham is truly a NASCAR genius. After giving up the steering wheel in his own driving career, he moved south and was the lead mechanic for the IROC series for many years. From there, he joined forces with Jeff Gordon and rewrote the history books. The next step in Evernham's storied career has him as a team owner, and with six victories in the books with Kasey Kahne at the wheel of his Cup Series Dodges, it's obvious his prolific skills have translated from the chief wrench to the chief executive.
But even with all of the positives on her side, Crocker has found the road a tough one to hoe in the Truck Series.
"It's been a tough season for sure," Crocker said. "There have been some good things. I would be lying if I said we haven't been disappointed. We're still looking for that first top-15 of the year. I have a great group of guys behind me and we've learned a lot this year. I certainly haven't given up on it, for sure."
Crocker's season hasn't been without it's highlights.
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Erin Crocker and Ray Evernham. (Charles Krall/TruckSeries.com Photo) |
"Qualifying second at Charlotte was obviously a big deal," Crocker said. "Charlotte is the home for just about every team in NASCAR and it was a big moment. Finishing sixteenth at Kansas was a big day for us too. The truck was on, and we passed five or six trucks during the last green flag segment and I think that was a good day for us."
Evernham said the Truck Series team plays an important role in the overall scheme of things at Evernham Motorsports.
"The Truck Series team plays a big role," he said. "We have had a great sponsor in 2006 with General Mills and Betty Crocker, and it's been important with our driver development program with Erin. There are some guys on this truck team right now that are going to be moved up to the Busch and the Cup Series. It used to be that the Busch Series was the way to go to develop young guys to work on the crew, but any more it is just like Cup too. It seems like right now the Truck Series is the way to go to develop young guys without a lot of pressure and they get to learn a lot."
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Ray Evernham (Charles Krall/TruckSeries.com Photo) |
Evernham also offered some insight as to why Crocker's rookie season has been more difficult that anticipated.
"These trucks are all very new to everyone at Evernham Motorsports," he said. "We have been relatively new at it and we have had to learn. I don't think we have done as as good a job with our Trucks as we have with our Cup cars because we have had so much to learn. We wish we could have given Erin a better truck week in and week out, but people don't realize how hard this Truck Series is. They aren't like cars."
Evernham would like to bring Crocker back to the Truck Series in 2007, but sponsorship is an issue.
"It's a shame the season is winding down now because we're finally getting the trucks to where we want them," Evernham said. "We hope we can bring Erin back to the Truck Series next year. We are looking for sponsorship for next year. The team is starting to gel. Erin is getting better, the team is getting better and the trucks are getting better. We are definitely ready to start having some good runs.
"We are definitely out there looking for sponsorship for Erin. She is one of the best lady drivers to come to our sport and with her engineering degree she is a great spokesman. We will probably do a mix of things with her next year, with some ARCA, some Trucks, some Busch and maybe even some Cup races next year."
With Evernham keeping a hands-on approach with the No. 98 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, Crocker said it has helped increase her learning curve during her rookie season.
"He is here for every practice, and on the radio quite a bit," she said. "Not only that, Ray was also a racer. It is a big help for me to have some one there that has been through the learning process as a driver and understands it. I am very thankful for that."
Evernham is not only a wiz with a wrench; he has assisted in the development of two of today's hottest stars, Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne. He said Crocker shares many of the same qualities he saw in his previous protégés.
"Anybody that comes out of the open wheel world, anyone that can win in the World of Outlaw series, those are the most awesome racecars in the world," he said. "She has had some success in the ARCA series and in the Busch car too. She has struggled a little bit in the Truck Series and I take some of the responsibility for that with our Truck program right now. She has the potential, what she needs is the experience to continue to learn how to communicate. But she has a lot of the same qualities that Jeff and Kasey had, but all good drivers need to have that."
Crocker is not ready to concede the 2006 season by any means.
"Going into these last races, the biggest thing is I have raced at both of these tracks before," she said. "The last few races I have felt the most comfortable all season. We ran well on the mile tracks earlier in the season, and I like Homestead so hopefully we go out with a bang."
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