Chicagoland: Casey Roderick preview

RODERICK TO RACE CHICAGOLAND IN ARCA 150

DAWSONVILLE, GA (August 23, 2010) - Rising racing star Casey Roderick is set to make the next big step in his racing career this weekend as he takes on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway in Friday's Ansell Protective Gloves 150 ARCA race.

Roderick, the former Legends champion from Lawrenceville, Ga., enters the race fresh off his first career ARCA victory, at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Aug. 15.

But Chicagoland presents a much different challenge than the road course at New Jersey.

"I'm just looking forward to going up there with Phoenix Racing," said Roderick, whose Chevrolet Impala will be fielded jointly by Phoenix and the Bill Elliott Driver Development program. "These mile-and-a-half tracks are new to me, and it may take me a little while to get used to them and to keep the car under me for the race.

"We just need to go out there and have a good solid top-five finish and come home with a complete car."

Roderick spent last weekend working as a mechanic with the Phoenix team and driver Ryan Newman with their Nationwide Series entry at Bristol Motor Speedway, and impressed many in the Bristol garage with his willingness to pitch in and work on the car.

But now it's his turn to take the wheel, and Steve Barkdoll, general manager for Phoenix Racing, said he's anxious to see how Roderick adapts to a bigger and faster race track than he's been accustomed to.

"Were excited to get Casey to a superspeedway now that he has turned 18, to get him more experience," Barkdoll said. "Coming off of the win at New Jersey we hope to back it up with a good solid run."

Roderick's mentor and car owner Bill Elliott also has high hopes for the youngster, who now has a win, a seventh place finish, a runner-up finish and a pole in four career ARCA starts. He also was leading the race at Palm Beach, Fla., when he broke a transmission.

"I think Casey will do well in Chicago, and we will try to get up there to support him," said Elliott, who likely will be pressed into service as the truck driver for his son Chase's race team this weekend. "But if we don't, he's in good hands with [team owner James Finch]'s guys."

-source: bill elliott dd