- Erin Crocker
Infobox NASCAR driver
Name = Erin Mary Crocker
Birthdate = birth date and age|1981|3|23
Birthplace =Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Previous_Year = 2006
Prev_Busch_Pos = 67th
Best_Busch_Pos = 67th - 2006
First_Busch_Race = 2005Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond)
Previous_Year = 2006
Prev_Truck_Pos = 25th
Best_Truck_Pos = 25th - 2006 (Craftsman Truck Series)
First_Truck_Race = 2005Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix)
Last_Truck_Race = 2006Ford 200 (Homestead)
Awards = 1993–1995 Quarter Midgets of American Female Driver of the Year1993–1996 Quarter Midgets of America Northeast Regional Champion
1999 Eastern Limited Sprints Rookie of the Year
2002 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 360 Wild Card Award
2002 ESS Outstanding Newcomer award
2003
Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year2003 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 410 Rookie of the Year
Updated_On =October 7 ,2006 Erin Mary Crocker (born on
March 23 ,1981 inWilbraham, Massachusetts ) is an American race car driver. She drove the #98Gillett Evernham Motorsports owned Dodge Charger in theARCA RE/MAX Series . In the past she playedsoccer ,tennis , and varsitylacrosse on both her high school and college teams. Her entrance to the world of top tier motorsports has been stalled due in part to a personal relationship between Crocker and her former boss and team owner,Ray Evernham . [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2008-05-19-2929460367_x.htm NASCAR still looking for its Danica Patrick or Ashley Force - USATODAY.com ] ]Early career
Crocker first starting racing quarter midgets at the age of 7 in the Custom Quarter Midget Club, based in
Thompson, Connecticut , and the Silver City Quarter Midget Club fromMeriden, Connecticut and was named the Most Improved Novice during her first year of competition. She then moved on to win several awards and three Northeast Regional Quarter Midgets of America championships from 1993 to 1996 while in middle and high school. In 1997, Crocker began running Mini Sprints at Whip City Speedway in Westfield, MA. She became the youngest driver and the first female to win a race at the track. In 1998 she again competed in a 1200cc Mini sprint at Whip City and also with the Central New York Mini Sprint Association (CNYMS). In 1999, she moved to the Eastern Limited Sprint Series, and was named Rookie of the Year.Crocker started racing professionally in the
World of Outlaws while attendingRensselaer Polytechnic Institute inTroy, New York , where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and management engineering in 2003. In 2002, Crocker signed with Woodring Racing to drive a 360 winged sprint car. She won five feature races as well as twelve heat events, earning her theNational Sprint Car Hall of Fame Outstanding Newcomer Award. The following season, she switched to 410 Dirt Sprints, and became the first woman to qualify for theKnoxville Nationals . She won the 410 division's Rookie of the Year honors at season's end.NASCAR
2004
In 2004, Crocker won an opportunity to drive for
Ford Motor Company 'sdriver development program , and tested a Ford sprint for Bob East and Steve Lewis that season. She also became the first World of Outlaws driver to win a feature race that year inTulare, California .2005
The following season, she left Ford to join
Evernham Motorsports ' driver development program. During the season, she raced in theARCA RE/MAX Series and collected 3 top 5's, including a second place finish, five top 10's, and two poles in six starts. She also made herNASCAR debut that season atRichmond International Raceway driving the #6Country Crock Dodge for Evernham in theBusch Series , starting 42nd and finishing 39th after a wreck. In her next start atDover International Speedway , she qualified ninth, but wrecked eleven laps into the race after being tapped byJustin Labonte . Crocker sustained a cracked rib from the incident forcing her to sit out some races she was scheduled to compete in. She ran two more races that season, one for Evernham and the other forFitzBradshaw Racing , her best finish coming atMemphis Motorsports Park , where she finished 29th for FitzBradshaw in the #40 Cheerios/St. Jude's Children's Hospital Dodge Charger. She also ran a pair of Truck races forBobby Hamilton Racing , at Phoenix andHomestead-Miami Speedway , her best finish a 30th at Homestead-Miami Raceway.2006
In 2006 Crocker drove the #98 full-time in the Truck Series. She finished 25th in the Craftsman Truck standings. After struggling during the 2006 season, Evernham decided to close the #98 team.
2007
In 2007, Crocker ran a select number of ARCA Series events. [ [http://www.evernhammotorsports.com/main.cfm?pagename=ec_bio Team 98 - Erin Crocker ] ] She won the pole for the season-opening ARCA race at
Daytona International Speedway in 2007. She however struggled, finishing 20th in the race.During her tenure as a truck-series driver, a dispute between then-Evernham Cup driver
Jeremy Mayfield and Ray Evernham resulted in a series of lawsuits between Mayfield and Evernham. In Mayfield’s legal filings, he asserted that the #19 team’s lack of on-track success was due in large part to Evernham’s attention being focused on his personal relationship with an unnamed female driver. At the time, Crocker was the only female driver employed by Evernham Motorports. Evernham confirmed in an interview with ESPN that the relationship exists and has hurt Crocker's career. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=99&id=2951523 ESPN - Evernham admits relationship hurt driver's career - Racing ] ]2008
Following the fall 2007 ARCA race at
Talladega Superspeedway , it was confirmed that she had left Evernham Motorsports. She ran a limited 2 race schedule in the truck series forMorgan-Dollar Motorsports , before she was replaced by Red Bull driversA. J. Allmendinger &Scott Speed . For the ARCA/REMAX race on September 6,2008 She will do play by play for SPEED ChannelReferences
External links
* [http://www.erincrocker.com Official Website (not updated since 2006)]
* [http://www.racing-reference.info/driver?id=crocker01 Drivers statistics at racing-reference.info]Persondata
NAME=Crocker, Erin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American racecar driver
DATE OF BIRTH=March 23 ,1981
PLACE OF BIRTH=Wilbraham, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=
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