Casey Roderick Rolls into Lanier, ASA SAT with Momentum
Casey Roderick returns to Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.) this weekend hoping the third time is a charm. Sixteen-year-old Roderick, who drives the No. 19 Ford for Bill Elliott Racing, will make his third consecutive start at his home track and is looking to cap off the sequence with a win after finishing second and third in his last two attempts.
Roderick, who is running in the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour RC Cola / Moon Pie 100 Saturday night, is also looking for his first win in the highly competitive series. With five career ASA SAT starts, Roderick has finished third and second (twice) and is on the verge of breaking through with his first win.
After four ASA SAT starts in 2008, Roderick’s only series start this year came at Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway in April. After starting 12th, he drove through the field and pressured series hotshots Jason Hogan and Max Gresham on his way to a third place finish.
Roderick has five Late Model starts at Lanier, including one ASA SAT event in 2008. This year, Roderick has track starts in the CRA Super Series and Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) sanctioned events at SpeedFest 2009 as well as two regular season starts in the GAS series. Roderick currently leads the GAS standings over TJ Reaid and BER teammate Chase Elliott.
The Lawrenceville, Ga., native has made 15 career Late Model starts for BER since last August, earning an average finish of 7.07 and recording 11 top-10 and seven top-five finishes. With the exception of one DNF during the CRA Super Series portion of SpeedFest, Roderick’s worst career finish is 12th.
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Chase Elliott coming “home” to Lanier, ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour
After racing with some of his Late Model heroes at South Alabama Speedway (Kinston, Ala.) two weeks ago, Chase Elliott is coming back home this weekend to join the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour at Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.), where the young driver has found success early in his career. Elliott, age 13, won his first Late Model race in his seventh start last month at Lanier, which he considers his “home track”.
Elliott’s primary sponsor, Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership, will sponsor the 250-lap USARacing Pro Cup Series race, the companion event to the ASA SAT RC Cola / Moonpie 100 Saturday night. Elliott will sign autographs for his hometown fans at the Aaron’s trackside display starting at 7:00 p.m.
The second-generation driver out of Dawsonville, Ga., has made ten career Late Model starts in the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine, posting one victory, four top-five and nine top-ten finishes. His only finish outside of the top-ten came at Watermelon Capital Speedway (Cordele, Ga.), when he recorded his first DNF.
In April, Elliott became the youngest driver to ever start an ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour event when he entered the Matt Hawkins Memorial at Lanier. In only his third LM start, Elliott drove from 16th to sixth in a field of short track stars.
Saturday’s 100-lap race will mark Elliott’s fourth start in the competitive ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour. With starts at Lanier, WCS, and Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway, Elliott has an average finish of 12.33 in the series, including his only DNF.
Elliott’s stats at his home track of Lanier suggest that he will be a contender this weekend. In three Late Model starts at the 3/8-mile track, Elliott has earned an average finish of 4.33, including one win and two sixth-place finishes. The win, which came in the Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS), made Elliott the youngest winner in GAS history and the youngest winner of a sanctioned Late Model race at Lanier.
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Jason Hogan Event Preview:
ASA SAT Lanier National Speedway
If it seems like just a few months ago Jason Hogan and his Hogan Motorsports team were leaving Lanier National Speedway with a solid third place finish and the lead in the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour championship standings, it’s because they were. Now just two months later Hogan returns to his home track in front of family, friends, and local sponsors still atop the championship points lead and still looking for his first win of 2009.
-Your heading back to your home track of Lanier for the second time this season and you finished third there in April, how do you like your chances of giving your home track fans a win?
“I would have to say we should have a pretty solid shot of getting our first one of the year. Weather wise it will be a lot hotter than it was last time when we were here so the track will be a little slicker and greasier which should play into our favor. The pro cup cars will be racing that same weekend and they run a different type of tire than we do so when they lay some rubber down it may make things worse, so I’m pretty excited about it.”
-Will you be bringing back the same car you raced in April and setup wise how will it be different or will it be the same?
“Yea, this is the same car we won with all the time with last year and the same car we finished third with in April this year. As far as setup goes we plan on going back with pretty much the same setup we had in April. This race will be more about tuning on the car throughout the day based on track conditions because the track won’t really be the same as it was last time.”
-The USAR Pro Cup series is racing on the same weekend; any possibilities of seeing Jason Hogan pulling double duty?
“More than likely not, I had originally thought a little bit about talking to a few teams about putting something together but then the more I thought about it, I don’t want to take anything away from the ASA deal. We are leading the points and Lanier is my home track and this may be a weekend I could think about opening up the points lead a little bit more.”
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Chase Elliott off to “The Melon” for Third ASA Southeast Start
Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine team are headed to Cordele, Georgia’s Watermelon Capital Speedway, better known to drivers and fans as “The Melon”, for their third start in the competitive ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour (ASA SAT).
In April, Elliott became the youngest driver to ever start an ASA SAT race when he entered the Matt Hawkins Memorial 100 at Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.). In only his third career LM start, Elliott started 16th and drove through the field to finish sixth, ahead of some of the series’ biggest names.
The young driver’s second ASA SAT start came at Dillon Motor Speedway, his first race at the South Carolina short track, in late April. Elliott qualified sixth but fell victim to trouble with a right-front tire and a brush with the frontstretch wall. After slipping back to 13th, Elliott drove up to ninth to continue his streak of top-ten finishes.
Thirteen-year-old Elliott has one Late Model start at WCS in the Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS). In only his second LM start, Elliott qualified fourth and survived two spins during the 125-lap feature to finish seventh.
Elliott scored his first career Late Model win last month during a GAS event at Lanier National Speedway. After leading one practice and qualifying second, Elliott followed teammate Casey Roderick for 96 laps before taking over the lead on lap 97. Elliott is credited as the youngest winner of a sanctioned LM race at Lanier and also the youngest winner in the Georgia Asphalt Series.
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Roderick Steers No. 19 to Third Place Finish at Lanier
Bill Elliott Racing’s Casey Roderick has been on the verge of a win since his first Late Model start of the year at SpeedFest 2009. And if he keeps making runs like he has in the past two Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) 100-lap Pro Late Model features, the 16-year-old driver is going to find himself in Victory Lane soon. After starting from the pole and leading 96 laps two weeks ago, Roderick returned to Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.) Saturday night where he led one practice, qualified first and never ran below third to post his third top-five in four GAS starts this season, his first run at a Late Model championship.
“We were just off on the car a little bit in racing conditions,” Roderick said after the race. “We were quick in practice and qualified on the pole again, but the car was just too tight going into the turns and loose off. I thought I was going to get (Russell) Fleeman there at the end for second, but we got into each other – thankfully we didn’t wreck – and I lost a little bit on him. But it was still a good night for the team, you can’t complain about a top-three finish. I just want to thank Hometown Community Bank and all of our team sponsors for supporting us and letting me race every week. We keep getting close to that first win, and hopefully we’ll get it for them here soon.”
Roderick’s day started out looking like a repeat of the last GAS race. After posting the fastest lap in the second practice session, Roderick qualified on the pole with a 14.040-second lap. But the luck started to change when he rolled the giant die to determine the field inversion. While he rolled a “one” last time to maintain the pole, this week Roderick rolled a five, moving himself from first to fifth for the start of the GAS feature.
Roderick took the green flag on the inside of row three but was able to quickly move up on the inside to settle into the third place by lap six behind leader Fleeman and second place TJ Reaid. The three ran single file and set the pace for the 17-car field.
During the first caution on lap 20, Roderick reported to his crew that he was a little tight in the center and that he thought Reaid’s No. 41 was a little better than his No. 19 – but that he felt the car would come to him and be strong at the end of the race.
Roderick maintained his third place position with no pressure from behind. Around the half-way mark, he started closing on Reaid in second place but ten laps later started slipping back and battled pressure from Greg Simpson in fourth. Roderick was able to hold him off as the leaders approached and cleared lap traffic.
Following the third and final caution on lap 80, Reaid jumped out to the lead and Roderick pulled up alongside Fleeman to battle for second. The two ran side-by-side and made slight contact going down the frontstretch before Roderick slipped back to third.
While the two battled for second, Reaid pulled away from the field. In the closing laps, Fleeman was able to distance himself from Roderick, who cruised to the checkers in third place, his fourth top-ten and third top-five in four GAS starts this season.
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Elliott Overcomes Handling Problems to Finish Sixth at Lanier
Chase Elliott knows that every race won’t be a dream in the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine, and Saturday was one of those nights at Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.). After setting the fastest speed overall in practice and qualifying second – only .004 seconds off the fastest lap, 13-year-old Elliott battled a free race car from the start of the 100-lap Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) feature and earned a hard-fought sixth place finish.
“We were just off a little bit on the set-up on the Dream Machine tonight,” Elliott said. “The track was slick this week with the heat, and we were just too free all night. I couldn’t drive hard into the corners and make it stick. But the team worked really hard and we still got another solid top-ten. We’ll just go back and look at our notes and try to get it right again when we come back here in July.”
The No. 9 Aaron’s Dream Machine rolled off fast, leading the first practice and setting the fastest lap overall in GAS practice with a 14.115-second lap around the 3/8-mile oval. Elliott rolled off lucky 13th out of 17 cars in qualifying and picked up from practice to post a 14.044-second lap, only .004 seconds off the fastest lap of teammate Casey Roderick. Roderick rolled a “five” on the giant die to determine the inversion, dropping Elliott from second to fourth for the start of the GAS feature.
Elliott took the green flag on the outside of the second row and struggled to get to the inside line, dropping as low as seventh by lap five. A few laps later, Elliott had his rhythm back and moved up into sixth place as the top six spread out single file.
During the first caution on lap 22, Elliott reported to his team that he was free up off the corner – despite the fact that he was running lap times as quick as the leader. After restarting sixth, Elliott was able to pick up another position to move into fifth before the next caution on lap 33.
Elliott restarted on the inside of row three, alongside the No. 45 of Dwayne Buggay. Unable to make the Dream Machine stick on the bottom, Elliott pushed up into the No. 45 and then slipped back to sixth place.
For the majority of the race, Elliott battled the handling on the Dream Machine – rather than cars on the track – to maintain his position until a lap 80 caution. On the restart, Elliott was stuck on the outside of the No. 29 of James Nealis for four laps before he was able to clear him and fall into line.
The race stayed green for the final 20 laps, and Elliott held on to bring the No. 9 Aaron’s Lucky Dog Dream Machine home in sixth place, continuing his impressive streak of top-ten finishes in all eight career Late Model starts.
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Jason Hogan Event Preview:
ASA SAT Watermelon Capital Speedway
With the last race of the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour at Hickory getting washed out due to rain Jason Hogan and his championship leading team will turn their attention to the Watermelon 100 at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA. Most would think Hogan would be a little disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to defend his race title from a year ago, but lucky enough for Hogan he’ll get the chance again this weekend having won at “The Melon” just a season ago.
-Since Hickory got washed out, Watermelon Capital will be your return to the track that you won at on the 2008 series schedule, what are your thoughts going into Cordele?
“It was a bit disappointing that we didn’t get to race Hickory but when I saw we were going to Cordele next it wasn’t as big deal anymore. I mean anytime you’re going to a track you’ve had success at in the past and especially when it’s recent success it gets you pretty excited to go back, but it also puts a lot of pressure on yourself and your team to match that success.”
-Last year you and fellow Georgia native put on a fantastic show for the fans, what’s the chances of something like that happening again?
“Racing with Beau (Slocumb) last year was some of the most fun I’ve had in a race car in probably the last two or three years. It’s unfortunate that Beau can’t race with us this season because he is always the guy to beat at Cordele but I’ve heard he has been getting better and may even get to come home soon so hopefully he’ll be back at the track soon. But without him there it really opens the door up on who’s the guy to beat; it should be a good show.”
-What’s the toughest part about racing at Watermelon Capital Speedway?
“I would say the toughest thing about racing The Melon would be the fact there are no back straightaway walls and you really use all the track coming off of two so its pretty easy to get your right side tires off track which can easily make you lose a couple of positions. Track position is also pretty important because it can be tough coming through track if you happen to have a bad qualifying run.”
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