Quintin Crye Heads To Ventura Raceway Saturday
GRIDLEY, Calif.April 7, 2006; Quintin Crye, the 17-year-old USAC Ford Focus Series driver from Gridley, Calif., will be heading to Ventura (Calif.) Raceway this Saturday, April 8th. Ventura Raceway hosted one of three Focus races that Crye participated in during 2005, so his experience in that series is still quite limited. “I really love Ventura Raceway, and am looking forward to racing there again this Saturday,” Crye said of the season-opening race. “Last year, I was running in fifth during a Focus race when the second- and third-place drivers spun in front of me, and I ended up finishing 14th. Not too good, but I was doing really well before that accident, so I feel pretty confident heading into Saturday. And the track is just a really great place for fans to watch a race. It literally sits on the Pacific Ocean, and the grandstands face the mountains, so the views that fans get while watching the race are really beautiful.” Quintin was looking forward to the start of the 2006 season for many reasons, but primarily because it would be his introduction to the world of pavement racing. The first pavement show he was scheduled to race was at Irwindale Speedway last week, but the race was cancelled after heat races due to weather. However, Quintin, who had previously committed to race the entire 2006 schedule on dirt or pavement, was in Irwindale - but not as a driver. “My team is not sponsored right now, although we are looking really hard for some support, and we thought we could make it to all of the races this year,” Quintin said of the missed Irwindale race. “But the cost of pavement tires was out of reach for us this early in the year, so our team was not able to go to the Irwindale Focus race. That was devastating for me personally. I am hoping to run for points this year, and racing every show is important in reaching that goal.” Always thinking about the fact that this is a “team sport, Quintin decided to head to Irwindale to see if he could help someone else if he could not race himself: ”If I could not race, I wanted to make sure I was at least at the event so I could see the facility and observe how the Focus cars ran there, and interact with the teams and officials that I’ll be around the rest of the year. I also thought that, if I was going all that way from Northern California to LA, I should at least make myself useful. Of course, I brought my gear just in case a ride opened up, but more than anything, I wanted to help someone else if I could not race that night. I ended up talking to J.R. Williams and offered my help, but then the race got cancelled. But at least I got to help him load up. I’ve had a lot of help in the past, and it was nice to be able to offer help to someone else when they needed it. And I hope to always be available to help anyone else if they need it. That’s how racing works.” A 25-lap feature is scheduled for this Saturday at Ventura Raceway for the USAC California Ford Focus Midget Car Series. To keep up with Quintin’s 2006 racing endeavors, please log onto www.CryeRacing.com. QUINTIN QUICK FACTS: Full Name: Quintin Levi Crye Age: 17 Hometown: Gridley, Calif. (northern CA) School: Currently in Senior year at Gridley High School, graduating in June 2006; Will start classes at Butte College in Fall of 2006 Years Racing: 10 Website: www.CryeRacing.com Crewmembers: Glenn Crye (father); Derek Drock Primary Team Sponsors: 99 Smog and Tune Up; Lucas Oil Products Racing Highlights: 2006 – Will race entire USAC California Ford Focus Midget Series schedule on both pavement and dirt 2005 – Ran USAC Ford Focus midget for three races on dirt; Finished 13th at Bakersfield after an accident; 5th at Petaluma; 14th at Ventura after 2nd- and 3rd-place drivers spun in front of him while he was running 5th 2004 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway in 500cc Open Class, winning one trophy dash, and accumulating 6 top-5s, 8 top-10s; Finished 8th in points 2003 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway moving into the 500cc Open Class, winning “Rookie of the Year” honors with 3 fast times, 1 trophy dash and 1 A- main win; Won QRC Perpetual Trophy Race (and 6-foot tall Trophy Cup); Finished 7th in points 2002 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway, winning the Championship in the Open Intermediate Class with 4 A-main wins, 3 trophy dash wins and 4 fast times; During winter ran an indoor kart at Red Bluff competing in the Open Intermediate Class, wining 4 A-mains and collecting 3 trophy dash wins; Finished 3rd in points 2001 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway, moving into the Open Intermediate Class, posting 2 fast times and finishing 3rd in points; Ran winter kart series at Red Bluff in the Open Intermediate Class, winning 3 trophy dashes and finishing 4th in points 2000 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway in the 125cc Class, winning 2 A-mains and 1 trophy dash; Finished 6th in points; Ran winter karts in the 125cc division at Red Bluff, finishing 7th in points with 1 trophy dash win 1999 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway running in the 125cc Class, finishing 3rd in points with 3 A-main and 2 trophy dash wins 1998 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway, moving into the 125cc Class in the Outlaw Kart division, winning 2 A-mains and one trophy dash; Finished 5th in points 1997 – Kart racing at Cycleland Speedway in Box Stock division, winning 7 A-mains (including the first and second race of the year) and 4 trophy dashes; Finished 2nd in points 1996 – First year racing karts at Cycleland Speedway; Raced full season of 19 races in the Box Stock division; Ran winter kart series at Red Bluff indoor kart track (10 races) 2006 USAC CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS SERIES SCHEDULE (pavement and dirt) March 18 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) – Cancelled due to bad weather March 25 - Bakersfield Speedway (dirt) April 1 - Irwindale Speedway (pavement) April 8 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) April 22 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) April 29 - Madera Speedway (pavement) May 13 - Altamont Raceway Park (pavement) May 20 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) May 27 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) June 3 - Madera Speedway (pavement) June 10 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) June 17 - Altamont Raceway Park (pavement) June 24 - Bakersfield Speedway (dirt) July 1 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) July 8 - Stockton 99 Speedway (pavement) July 15 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) July 29 - Altamont Raceway Park (pavement) August 3 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) August 26 - Irwindale Speedway (pavement) September 2 - Altamont Raceway Park (pavement) September 4 - Madera Speedway (pavement) September 16 - Bakersfield Speedway (dirt) September 23 - Irwindale Speedway (pavement) September 30 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) October 7 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) October 21 - Ventura Raceway (dirt) November 23 - Irwindale Speedway (pavement)