Erin Crocker
From The Third Turn, a Wikia wiki
| Born | March 23, 1981 | ||||||
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| Hometown | Wilbraham, Massachusetts | ||||||
| Awards | 1993–1995 Quarter Midgets of American Female Driver of the Year
1993–1996 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 Year 2003 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame 410 Rookie of the Year | ||||||
| NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics | |||||||
| 2005 NNS position | 90th | ||||||
| Best NNS position | 90th - 2005 | ||||||
| First race | 2005 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics | |||||||
| Car #, team | #98 - Evernham Motorsports | ||||||
| 2005 NCWTS position | 91st | ||||||
| Best NCWTS position | 91st—2005 | ||||||
| First race | 2005 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
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| Statistics current as of November 12, 2006. | |||||||
[edit] 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 from Meriden, 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 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 attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, 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 the National 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 the Knoxville Nationals. She won the 410 division's Rookie of the Year honors at season's end.
[edit] NASCAR
In 2004, Crocker won an opportunity to drive for Ford Motor Company's driver 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 in Tulare, California. The following season, she left Ford to join Evernham Motorsports' driver development program. During the season, she raced in the ARCA 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 her NASCAR debut that season at Richmond International Raceway driving the #6 Country Crock Dodge for Evernham in the Busch Series, starting 42nd and finishing 39th after a wreck. In her next start at Dover International Speedway, she qualified ninth, but wrecked eleven laps into the race after being tapped by Justin 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 for FitzBradshaw Racing, her best finish coming at Memphis Motorsports Park, where she finished 29th for FitzBradshaw in the #40 Cheerios/St. Jude's Children's Hosptial Dodge Charger. She also ran a pair of Truck races for Bobby Hamilton Racing, at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami Speedway, her best finish a 30th at Homestead.
Originally scheduled to run the Busch Series full-time in 2006, Crocker has instead driven the #98 full-time in the Truck Series. She is currently ninth in the Rookie of the Year standings. She has made three Busch starts this season as well, at Nashville Superspeedway, The Milwaukee Mile and Gateway International Raceway. Her best finish is 19th at Gateway.
