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Optimistic Justin Crider Eyes A Rebound In 2016

In the moments leading up the qualifying for last Saturday’s Icebreaker 200 at Myrtle Beach Speedway, Justin Crider was all smiles on pit road. Considering how his 2015 season ended, that was a big deal.

“We had a good season last year, but also a rough season,” Crider said about his 2015 campaign. ”We’re trying to bounce back where we need to be, stay consistent, and just have fun.”

Early in the season, Crider appeared to be one of the brightest new stars in Late Model Stock Car racing. A member of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program class of 2015, Crider collected a pair of podium finishes in Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour events at Orange County Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway.

However, the strong runs quickly turned sour. Crider failed to finish in the top ten in the remaining seven CARS Tour races, and struggled in Late Model racing’s major fall events. Crider failed to make the 42-car field for the 200-lap feature at the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway after getting tangled up in a multi-car incident in the Last Chance Qualifier. He would then finish 38th in the UNOH Battle at the Beach, Myrtle Beach Speedway’s November classic.

Crider says the key for 2016 will be putting the poor performances behind him. Instead of dwelling on any negatives from last year, his team is instead focusing on the positives that came from the first half of 2015.

“We were just trying to get back to our basics,” Crider said. “I feel like all of our good runs were good for us, because we got a lot of momentum. But when the bad runs came, we all got psyched out about them.”

“We really took some time in the offseason and really looked the car over,” Crider added. “We got the team rested up and back to where we need to be,”

Crider fared much better last weekend at Myrtle Beach than in the previous appearance at the UNOH Battle at the Beach, coming home tenth in the 125-lap feature.

“I feel like we’re really coming into this weekend strong,” Crider said. “We’ll take what we can learn into the season.”

Along with returning to the CARS Tour, Crider plans on making a handful of starts in the “majors” as well as Hickory Motor Speedway.

“We’re going to run all the CARS Tour again like last year, try to get a good points finish in that deal,” said Crider about his 2016 plans. “We’re planning on running the big ones. We’re going to try Martinsville again, see if we can figure that place out. Come back down here for the 400 at the end of the year, run a few races here and there at Hickory. We’re planning on 16 to 18 races overall.”

Crider added that the team’s primary focus will be the CARS Tour, thanks in part to the series’ dedication to serving and rewarding its competitors.

“We’re going to try to focus on the CARS Tour,” Crider said. “I’m a really big supporter of that deal. I really like what they’ve got going on and I’m looking forward to it. All their stuff that they’ve got going on, I’m a big supporter of.”

“They need to be a little more friendly to the Chevy crates,” Crider added, flashing a smile once again. “But I understand where they are coming from with that and we’ll work with what we’ve got. I’m just a very big fan of that series and getting back to doing that this year. They’ve got a lot of stuff that benefits the drivers, and not a lot of places have that.”  

If his showing in the Icebreaker 200 is any indication, smiling Justin Crider may be a common sight this year.

Zach Evans is in his second season covering short track racing, A 2012 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Evans is a proud alumnus of The Daily Tar Heel, the school's award-winning independent student newspaper.

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