Erin Mary Crocker Evernham (born March 23, 1981) is an American race car driver and broadcaster with the Motor Racing Network's Winged Nation. In the past, she played soccer, tennis, and varsity lacrosse on both her high school and college teams.[1] She eventually moved to focus more on building a family after starting a personal relationship with her team owner and superior, Ray Evernham, whom she eventually married.[2]
Erin Crocker Evernham | |||||||
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![]() Crocker at Daytona in 2008 | |||||||
Born | Erin Mary Crocker March 23, 1981 Wilbraham, Massachusetts, U.S. | ||||||
Achievements | 1993–1996 Quarter Midgets of America Northeast Regional Champion | ||||||
Awards | 1993–1995 Quarter Midgets of America Female Driver of the Year 2003 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year | ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
10 races run over 2 years | |||||||
Best finish | 67th (2006) | ||||||
First race | 2005 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond) | ||||||
Last race | 2006 Ford 300 (Homestead) | ||||||
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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
29 races run over 3 years | |||||||
Best finish | 25th (2006) | ||||||
First race | 2005 Chevy Silverado 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
Last race | 2008 San Bernardino County 200 (Fontana) | ||||||
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Early career
editCrocker first started 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 in Westfield, MA. 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.[1] 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.
NASCAR and ARCA
edit2004
editIn 2004, Crocker won an opportunity to drive for Ford Motor Company's driver development program, and tested a Ford sprint for Bob East (racing) and Steve Lewis that season. She also became the first World of Outlaws driver to win a feature race that year in Tulare, California.
2005
editThe 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 three top 5s, including a second-place finish, five top 10s, and two poles in six starts. She also made her NASCAR debut that season at Richmond International Raceway driving the No. 6 Dodge for Evernham in the Busch Series. She started 42nd after a wreck in qualifying, and proceeded to finish 39th after another 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 No. 40 Dodge Charger. She also ran a pair of Truck races for Bobby Hamilton Racing, at Phoenix and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Crocker crashed in both races.
2006
editIn 2006 Crocker drove the No. 98 full-time in the Truck Series. She finished 25th in the Craftsman Truck standings. After struggling during the 2006 season, Evernham decided to close the No. 98 team.
During her tenure as a Truck Series driver, a dispute between then-Evernham Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield and Ray Evernham resulted in a series of lawsuits between Mayfield and Evernham.[3] In Mayfield’s legal filings, he asserted that the No. 19 team’s lack of on-track success was due in large part to Evernham’s attention being focused on his personal relationship with an unnamed female driver. At the time, Crocker was the only female driver employed by Evernham Motorsports. Evernham confirmed in an interview with ESPN that the relationship exists and has hurt Crocker's career.[4]
2007
editIn 2007, Crocker ran a select number of ARCA Series events.[5] She won the pole for the season-opening ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway in 2007. She however struggled, finishing 20th in the race.[6]
2008
editFollowing the fall 2007 ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway, it was confirmed that she had left Evernham Motorsports. She ran a limited two-race schedule in the truck series for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, before she was replaced by Red Bull drivers A. J. Allmendinger and Scott Speed. For the ARCA/REMAX race on September 6, 2008, she joined the broadcast booth for SPEED.[7]
Personal life
editCrocker and former boss/team owner Ray Evernham were wed on August 26, 2009 in Las Vegas.[8][9]
On July 25, 2015, Crocker gave birth to a daughter, Cate Susan Evernham.[10]
Motorsports career results
editNASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Busch Series
editNASCAR Busch Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | NBSC | Pts | Ref | |||
2005 | Evernham Motorsports | 6 | Dodge | DAY | CAL | MXC | LVS | ATL | NSH | BRI | TEX | PHO | TAL | DAR | RCH | CLT | DOV | NSH | KEN | MLW | DAY | CHI | NHA | PPR | GTY | IRP | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL | RCH 39 |
DOV 35 |
KAN | CLT | TEX | PHO 40 |
HOM | 90th | 223 | [11] | ||||
Fitz Racing | 40 | Dodge | MEM 29 |
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2006 | Evernham Motorsports | 98 | Dodge | DAY | CAL | MXC | LVS | ATL | BRI | TEX | NSH 37 |
PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | NSH | KEN | MLW 28 |
DAY | CHI | NHA | MAR | GTY 19 |
IRP 26 |
GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL | RCH | DOV | KAN | CLT | MEM | TEX | PHO 30 |
67th | 474 | [12] | ||||
Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | 43 | Dodge | HOM 28 |
Craftsman Truck Series
editNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCTC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||
2005 | Bobby Hamilton Racing | 4 | Dodge | DAY | CAL | ATL | MAR | GTY | MFD | CLT | DOV | TEX | MCH | MLW | KAN | KEN | MEM | IRP | NSH | BRI | RCH | NHA | LVS | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO 36 |
91st | 55 | [13] | ||||||||||||||
05 | HOM 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2006 | Evernham Motorsports | 98 | Dodge | DAY 27 |
CAL 27 |
ATL 26 |
MAR 25 |
GTY 22 |
CLT 18 |
MFD 28 |
DOV 24 |
TEX 33 |
MCH 24 |
MLW 25 |
KAN 16 |
KEN 27 |
MEM 30 |
IRP 27 |
NSH 29 |
BRI 35 |
NHA 32 |
LVS 24 |
TAL 20 |
MAR 26 |
ATL 23 |
TEX 36 |
PHO 16 |
HOM 34 |
25th | 2113 | [14] | |||||||||||||
2008 | Morgan-Dollar Motorsports | 46 | Chevy | DAY 14 |
CAL 27 |
ATL | MAR | KAN | CLT | MFD | DOV | TEX | MCH | MLW | MEM | KEN | IRP | NSH | BRI | GTW | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO | HOM | 60th | 203 | [15] |
ARCA Re/Max Series
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Re/Max Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ARSC | Pts | Ref | |||||||||||||||
2005 | Evernham Motorsports | 98 | Dodge | DAY | NSH 12 |
SLM | KEN | TOL | LAN | MIL | POC | MCH 7 |
KAN | KEN 2 |
BLN | POC 3 |
GTW | LER | NSH 3 |
MCH | ISF | TOL | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL 4 |
33rd | 1285 | [16] | |||||||||||||||
2006 | DAY 15 |
NSH 14 |
SLM | WIN | KEN | TOL | POC | MCH 4 |
KAN 2 |
KEN 27 |
BLN | POC | GTW 8 |
NSH 36 |
MCH | ISF | MIL | TOL | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | IOW | 36th | 1110 | [17] | ||||||||||||||||||
2007 | DAY 20 |
USA | NSH 3 |
SLM | KAN 7 |
WIN | KEN 2 |
TOL | IOW | POC 20 |
MCH 3 |
BLN | KEN 5 |
POC 4 |
NSH 6 |
ISF | MIL | GTW 17 |
DSF | CHI 5 |
SLM | TAL 18 |
TOL | 21st | 2240 | [18] |
References
edit- ^ a b "Erin Crocker" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-03.
- ^ Fryer, Jenna (2008-05-19). "NASCAR still looking for its Danica Patrick or Ashley Force". Usatoday.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Newton, David (2006-08-19). "Court documents tell Mayfield's side of split - Aug 19, 2006". Nascar.Com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.[dead link]
- ^ Newton, David (2007-07-28). "ESPN - Evernham admits relationship hurt driver's career - Racing". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Team 98 - Erin Crocker
- ^ "Erin Crocker Earns ARCA 200 Pole". Daytona International Speedway. 2007-02-09. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ "Erin Crocker to Call ARCA Race for SPEED". Auto-racing.speedtv.com. 2008-09-04. Archived from the original on 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ "ESPN - Evernhams live happily ever after". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Skirts and Scuffs http://www.skirtsandscuffs.com/2011/10/in-man-world-with-erin-crocker-evernham.html
- ^ "Ray Evernham, wife Erin become parents to baby girl". Fox Sports. July 25, 2015. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
- ^ "Erin Crocker – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
External links
edit- Erin Crocker driver statistics at Racing-Reference