Evernham happy with Crocker's progress
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08-16-2005, 02:47 PM
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Evernham happy with Crocker's progress
ORIGINAL: NASCAR.COM
Look for Erin Crocker behind the wheel of a Busch car in the near future. Credit: Autostock
Notes: Evernham happy with Crocker's progress
ARCA driver making Busch Series debut at Michigan on Saturday
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
August 16, 2005
11:04 AM EDT (15:04 GMT)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y -- NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham says he's gotten few surprises in dealing with his newest protégé, former Sprint Car driver Erin Crocker.
Crocker has excelled in a five ARCA RE/MAX Series starts this season -- qualifying and racing at the front and posting four top-10 finishes.
Evernham hopes to have the 24-year-old Wilbraham, Mass., native in a full-time Busch Series program as early as next season, and he confirmed Friday at Watkins Glen International her Busch debut will come this fall.
"We hope to take her full-time Busch Grand National, and we'll know here in the next couple weeks," Evernham said of 2006. "If it's not that program she'll run some Busch, some ARCA and possibly some trucks.
"We're just trying to keep getting her more and more experience."
Crocker's only pavement experience has come in her five ARCA starts -- in which she has a worst result of 12th, in her March debut at Nashville Superspeedway, where she started on the pole.
"I don't know that she's 100 percent ready for a full-time Busch schedule," Evernham said. "But if that opportunity comes up, we're going to capitalize on it and try to do the best that we can."
Evernham said that he hoped to announce within a couple weeks what Crocker's 2005 Busch schedule will be.
"We would have announced what her Busch races are going to be already," Evernham said. "But we're working on a couple programs and when you bring in partners, you want to make sure everything lines up so they can take advantage of it."
Evernham said his biggest delight with Crocker has come out of the driver's seat.
"Other than her personality, I haven't really had any surprises in anything Erin has achieved," Evernham said. "She's got just a great personality to be around, and that's been the most pleasant surprise.
"The thing anymore is that by the time you hire someone to come into your organization, you have an idea of what you want them to be or what you need them to be -- so you're really happy as long as there are no disappointments -- which there usually are some.
"Erin has been everything we knew before we hired her, but she's got just a great personality and a great sense of humor on top of that."
Inside the Numbers
Erin Crocker's 2005 ARCA stats
Track Start Finish
Nashville 1 12
Michigan 7 7
Kentucky 1 2
Pocono 3 3
Nashville 3 3
Averages 3.0 5.4
Look for Erin Crocker behind the wheel of a Busch car in the near future. Credit: Autostock
Notes: Evernham happy with Crocker's progress
ARCA driver making Busch Series debut at Michigan on Saturday
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
August 16, 2005
11:04 AM EDT (15:04 GMT)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y -- NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham says he's gotten few surprises in dealing with his newest protégé, former Sprint Car driver Erin Crocker.
Crocker has excelled in a five ARCA RE/MAX Series starts this season -- qualifying and racing at the front and posting four top-10 finishes.
Evernham hopes to have the 24-year-old Wilbraham, Mass., native in a full-time Busch Series program as early as next season, and he confirmed Friday at Watkins Glen International her Busch debut will come this fall.
"We hope to take her full-time Busch Grand National, and we'll know here in the next couple weeks," Evernham said of 2006. "If it's not that program she'll run some Busch, some ARCA and possibly some trucks.
"We're just trying to keep getting her more and more experience."
Crocker's only pavement experience has come in her five ARCA starts -- in which she has a worst result of 12th, in her March debut at Nashville Superspeedway, where she started on the pole.
"I don't know that she's 100 percent ready for a full-time Busch schedule," Evernham said. "But if that opportunity comes up, we're going to capitalize on it and try to do the best that we can."
Evernham said that he hoped to announce within a couple weeks what Crocker's 2005 Busch schedule will be.
"We would have announced what her Busch races are going to be already," Evernham said. "But we're working on a couple programs and when you bring in partners, you want to make sure everything lines up so they can take advantage of it."
Evernham said his biggest delight with Crocker has come out of the driver's seat.
"Other than her personality, I haven't really had any surprises in anything Erin has achieved," Evernham said. "She's got just a great personality to be around, and that's been the most pleasant surprise.
"The thing anymore is that by the time you hire someone to come into your organization, you have an idea of what you want them to be or what you need them to be -- so you're really happy as long as there are no disappointments -- which there usually are some.
"Erin has been everything we knew before we hired her, but she's got just a great personality and a great sense of humor on top of that."
Inside the Numbers
Erin Crocker's 2005 ARCA stats
Track Start Finish
Nashville 1 12
Michigan 7 7
Kentucky 1 2
Pocono 3 3
Nashville 3 3
Averages 3.0 5.4