Rain Dance Works for Roderick; Scores First Late Model Win at Lanier

08.01.2009 - Braselton, GA

Casey Roderick has a lot to celebrate this week, starting with his first career Late Model victory in Saturday’s rain-shortened Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) event at Lanier National Speedway (Braselton, Ga.).  The win, which came on Roderick’s one-year anniversary of joining Bill Elliott Racing, is an early birthday present for the Lawrenceville, Ga., native, who will celebrate his 17th birthday this Saturday.

“Man, that was a long time coming,” Roderick said from a make-shift Victory Lane inside the tech garage at Lanier.  “We’ve been close so many times, and it’s awesome to finally be here celebrating a win with the team.  I owe a big thanks to Bill Elliott for giving me this opportunity; I think it was one year ago this weekend that I joined the team and what a year it has been.  I’m glad we could finally get this win for him, and hopefully now that we’ve got the first win off our back, we’ll be back in Victory Lane soon.”

After starting on the outside pole after the inversion, Roderick jumped out front for the first two laps before relinquishing the lead to fast qualifier Chris Whorton.  Roderick tucked the No. 19 Ford in behind Whorton, and along with No. 98 Russell Fleeman, the top three ran nose-to-tail, pacing the field.  Roderick held off pressure by veteran Fleeman, and by lap 40, Whorton and Roderick started inching away from Fleeman.  Whorton and Roderick continued to pace the field as the laps wound down until the first caution on lap 80.

Roderick lined up on the outside of the front row for the restart and passed Whorton entering turn one to resume the lead.  From there, Roderick drove away from Whorton and had the No. 19 out front when the second caution waved on lap 88.  With the threat of rain looming all night, Roderick was in the right place at the right time, as the rain poured down over Lanier National Speedway and officials called the race after 88 of 100 laps.

“We got lucky there on that restart, being on the outside of (Chris) Whorton.  The outside groove is the place to be on restarts here at Lanier.  We had good forward bite all night, and once our tires got warmed up, we were running good.  This was our first start with this chassis, and we’re one-for-one so far!  Jim Barfield and the guys worked their tails off getting this thing set up right, and I’m so proud I could get them a win here at our home track.  I just want to thank my mom and dad, all of our product sponsors, Bill and everyone who has helped me get here.  I can’t wait to come back here in two weeks to defend the win and keep fighting for that GAS championship.”

Earlier in the day, Roderick showed that the No. 19 Ford would be a threat in the Pro Late Model race.  After picking up over four-tenths of a second from first practice, Roderick posted the fastest practice lap overall with a time of 14.069 seconds.  The last car to roll out for qualifying, Roderick gained nearly a second over practice to lay down the third quickest qualifying lap at 14.003 seconds.