BRISTOL, Tenn.: After a fast start to the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season, CR7 Motorsports and Codie Rohrbaugh head to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race hoping to be one of the surprises in one of the most highly anticipated races of the season.
Rohrbaugh considers himself an eclectic driver – but when it comes to slingin and getting dirty, well – that mode will be new to the driver of the No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet.
Still, he is ready to take on his newest challenge with arms wide open.
“I cannot even tell you what to expect this weekend, because I have no clue,” Rohrbaugh said jokingly.
“We’re excited but we are also optimistic. We know that this weekend is probably going to be one of the most unique races of the season, but we are ready.”
Luckily for Rohrbaugh this weekend at Bristol will feature two practice sessions as well as a heat race that will help determine his starting position for the 150-lap contest.
“It is pretty important for us to find our footing after that final practice,” admitted Rohrbaugh. “We definitely want to try and find our balance. It is going to take a little bit to get comfortable and up to speed – but I think if I can get out there and follow some of these guys who have a lot of experience on dirt – we should be fine.
“Staying positive is going to be our friend this weekend at Bristol.”
After a satisfying start to the season with a top-10 finish at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and a commendable 16th place finish on the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course last month, Atlanta wasn’t as kind and left the CR7 Motorsports driver with a disappointing 29th place finish.
But just like the game of racing, Rohrbaugh knows that not every weekend will be perfect.
“We just seem to struggle at Atlanta for whatever reason, we just couldn’t get the balance that we wanted but we didn’t give up and that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “Not every race is going to be great and you have to take the good with the bad. The Atlanta finish though just gives us the motivation to bounce back at Bristol this weekend.”
When it comes to success this weekend at Bristol, Rohrbaugh says a top-15 finish or better will feel like a win.
“Anything inside the top-15 would be great,” added Rohrbaugh. “That will certainly feel like a win and something we can build off for Knoxville later this summer. Getting through Bristol as clean as possible will be huge as we’ll take a couple of weeks off to regroup and hope for back-to-back top-10 finishes at Richmond.”
CR7 Motorsports has 31 NCWTS starts to their credit with a career-best finish of third at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (February 2020). Additionally, the team owns five other top-10 finishes at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (fifth) in October 2020, Richmond (Va.) Raceway (sixth) in September 2020, Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway (seventh | Grant Enfinger) in March 2021, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (eighth) in February 2021 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 2021 ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series seasons and beyond. Interested inquiries are encouraged to contact at tonya@gcmulch.com or 304.257.8783.
The Pinty’s Dirt Truck Race (150 laps | 75 miles) is the fifth of 22 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races on the 2021 schedule. The first of two practices begins at 3:05 p.m. – 3:55 p.m., with a final fifty-minute practice etched in from 5:35 p.m. – 6:25 p.m. Qualifying heat races begin on race day, Mar. 27, beginning at 4:30 p.m. The 40-truck field will take the green flag on Sat., Mar. 20, 2021, shortly after 8:00 p.m. ET with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network (Radio) and SiriusXM Satellite Radio NASCAR Channel 90.
