TALLADEGA, Ala.: You could say that Codie Rohrbaugh and his CR7 Motorsports have been waiting for the annual fall Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race since February.
In a similar race, Rohrbaugh, 26, and his family-owned team recovered from a spin to draft to a career-best third place finish in the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Fast forward eight long months in a pandemic, Talladega weekend is finally here and Rohrbaugh is ready to get down to business.
“I’ve been waiting for Talladega for months,” Rohrbaugh chuckled. “Ever since our success at Daytona, I’ve been itching to get back to superspeedway racing and I’m just glad its here.”
Rohrbaugh’s first career top-five earlier this year was a huge statement for the Statesville, N.C.-based team. The team’s early success allowed them to step up their commitment to run a majority of the season.
And while the team skipped last weekend’s race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and will forgo the upcoming race at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 16, the brief sabbaticals have paid off for the Doug George-led team.
“We plan to run three to four of the remaining fives races,” Rohrbaugh said. “We didn’t go to Las Vegas last weekend and while that will hurt our starting position for the race on Saturday, thankfully Talladega isn’t a track where it matters where you start.
“We’ve shown that when we take a race or two break, we come back to the series’ stronger. Richmond, even though we utilized some pit strategy was a great example of that.
“Talladega is a prime opportunity to put our team on the map and by skipping Las Vegas, we were able to put 100 percent of our focus and attention on our Talladega truck and I hope that attentiveness will pay off this weekend.”
To have a chance of capturing his second career top-five finish in NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series competition, the Petersburg, West Virginia native knows luck will likely have to be on his side.
“Superspeedway racing comes down to a lot of luck,” he said. “But, you also have to exercise patience, have confidence in your spotter and have 100 percent faith in yourself to make the right moves. If all those align, you end up with a finish like we had at Daytona or even better.
“That’s what we are aiming for on Saturday.”
For their 11th consecutive race, CR7 Motorsports and their partner Grant County Mulch has again given up their space this weekend race for Joshua Shirk.
The No. 9 Chevrolet Silverado has been designed with a western-theme scheme, personally selected by Shirk.
The hood carries a special touch with Shirk displaying a message of his own that he wrote before the accident, “I am a child of God. He saves me. I talk to he.”
On May 17, 2020, eight-year-old Joshua Shirk was kayaking with family in rural West Virginia.
While on the water, the kayak capsized and Shirk became trapped under the water in debris.
When the family was finally able to pull him to safety, the young boy had no pulse. Quick work by medical workers at a local hospital was able to revive him but he remained in critical condition.
Shirk was later transported to WVU hospital in Morganton, West Virginia where he has made vast improvements but still needs the love, prayer and support of many.
Over the last three months, Shirk has been able to come off a breathing machine and has started intense physical rehabilitation with a focus on working his muscles and standing up with assistance. His progress lately has been exceptional, as his muscles continue to strengthen – but a long road still remains.
Competing in 15 of the 18 races in 2020, Rohrbaugh is 21st in the championship standings.
CR7 Motorsports has 26 NGOTS starts to their credit with a career-best finish of third at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (February 2020). Additionally, the team owns two other top-10 finishes at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (sixth) in September 2020 and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (10th) in October 2019. An 11th place qualifying effort at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Oct. 2019) is the team’s best time trials effort to date.
In 20 career ARCA starts, Rohrbaugh has a best finish of seventh twice at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (July 2018 and Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (February 2019). He has qualified a career-best fourth on four different occasions most recently at Kansas Speedway (Oct. 2018).
Marketing partnership(s) opportunities are available for the No. 97 A.L.L. Construction | Grant County Mulch Chevrolet and No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet for the 2020 ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series seasons and beyond. Interested inquiries are encouraged to contact at tonya@gcmulch.com or 304.257.8783.
The Chevy Silverado 250 (94 laps | 250.04 miles) is the 19th of 23 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races on the 2020 schedule. The 38-truck field will take the green flag on Sat. Oct. 3, 2020, shortly after 12:00 p.m. with live coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1), the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Satellite Radio, Channel 90). All times are local (Central).
