BRISTOL, Tenn.: From the high-speeds of Michigan International Speedway to the thunderous applause of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Codie Rohrbaugh and his CR7 Motorsports invade the Volunteer State eyeing a top-10 finish in Thursday night’s UNOH 200.
Following their eventful 17th place effort at Michigan, Rohrbaugh returns to “Thunder Valley” eager to build on his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut at the 0.533-mile concrete oval, where the Petersburg, West Virginia native earned a solid 16th place finish last August.
“I’ve been amped up about going to Bristol for a couple of months now,” said Rohrbaugh who married longtime girlfriend Brooklyn Swick on Aug. 3.
“Bristol is the site of CR7 Motorsports Truck Series debut last summer and we overcame the pressure of no points to make a competitive field and hung on to a competitive finish.
“We’ve raised the bar though this week. We feel like our team has grown since last summer and I think we’re really on the verge of finishing inside the top-10.”
Armed with the boldness and the experience of crew chief Doug George and team manager Mark Huff, Rohrbaugh says as the team plans to increase their Gander Truck Series presence this fall, they will take gambles if it means contending for race wins.
“We’re not running for a championship, so we can take risks,” added Rohrbaugh. “We don’t need to put ourselves in a position to tear up our truck our hinder those running for the championship, but if we find ourselves in a position to make up some ground with strategy or a move on the track, we’re going to go for it.
“With the addition of Doug earlier this year, I think we’ve shown that we’re coming to the track a lot faster even if we don’t have all the finishes to show for it. Two races ago at Kentucky, we earned our career-best finish as a team with a 14th and with our on-track performance there and at Michigan, I think we can continue to build on that and execute at places like Bristol and Las Vegas coming up.”
When it comes to competing at the “World’s Fastest-Half Mile”, the 25-year-old is comfortable with the track, considering he has additional starts in K&N Pro Series East competition from 2015 through 2016.
“At the end of the day, the atmosphere is electrifying at Bristol,” noted Rohrbaugh. I have a lot of laps there and at the end of the day, I think all that makes a difference. As a team, we’re just looking to continue to build our road and be positive about the future.”
CR7 Motorsports has seven NGOTS starts to their credit with a career-best finish of 14th at Kentucky Speedway (July 2019). A 14th place qualifying effort at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (May 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. 7 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet and No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet for the 2019 ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series seasons and beyond. Interested inquiries are encouraged to contact at tonya@gcmulch.com or 304.257.8783.
Following Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, CR7 Motorsports plans to return to the Gander Truck Series scene at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 13, 2019.
The UNOH 200 (200 laps | 100.6 miles) is the 17th of 23 races on the 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series schedule. Practice begins on Thurs., Aug. 15 from 9:05 a.m. – 9:55 a.m., while final practice is set for 11:05 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. Qualifying races are set for later in the day beginning at 4:35 p.m. The 32-truck field will take the green flag shortly after 8:30 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 (Eastern).
