Of the 45 Super Late Model drivers entered into the Snowball Derby, the reigning ASA STARS national champion is not one of them.
Why, begins the conversation …
“It always comes down to money.”
“It always does.”
Instead, Casey Roderick was able to pull together enough funding to race a Pro Late Model in the Snowflake 100 instead but it actually bothers him that the right deal didn’t materialize to compete in the biggest race of the year.
“You know, it’s really unfortunate but I have a lot to be proud of,” said Roderick, “because this is the best year that I’ve ever had in a Super Late Model with three championships and several wins. I’m very happy and I couldn’t have done it without Mrs. Myna (Burba) and Anthony (Campi), Mr. Billy from Braden River Enterprises — all the people that pitched in who weren’t part of it every day but there were part of it every day. They kept me going and I’m very grateful for all the opportunities.”
That’s the crazy part though.
Because he earned the championship in both the four race Five Flags Speedway track championship and Southern Super Series championship, Roderick had a guaranteed starting spot in the race. He was the only driver, had he found a ride, that wouldn’t need to spend the money to mock up several times this week.
They could have just bolted on some leftover sets and just dialed in their car.
“I mean, ultimately, there are a couple of people here who could make that happen,” Roderick said. “I would do it if the right deal came along. I don’t want to just jump in a car just to race. I want it to be something that I can win in because anything less might hurt what I’m trying to do more.”
READ MORE: Qualifying draw, inspection day notebook
All he has right now, in the absence of a Super Late Model budget, is a reputation of contending for wins every single time he’s in a car.
Did he have some opportunities?
“Yeah, one of them wasn’t about money,” Roderick said. “One was the time it took to get it done. If I had found out sooner on one of those, I’d be in the race. But I do want to thank the teams that reached out and considered me, kept my name out there, and hopefully we can put something down the road together.”
When asked if he was once again at a career impasse, Roderick said ‘that is every day in my racing career,’ which is true.
He raced several years for Graham Racing but that team folded and he was out of ride. He then raced several years for Ronnie Sanders who ultimately scaled back his operation and is currently only fielding a Pro Late Model for Jake Finch.
He won the Snowflake 100 in 2022 for Anthony Campi but only when Gio Ruggiero made a last-minute jump to Wilson Motorsports in the weeks leading up to that race. Roderick raced half the 2023 season for Campi, winning the World Series of Asphalt championship during Speedweeks and was in contention for the inaugural ASA STARS championship when the funding briefly dried up, again missing the Derby.
He was back in the Campi car again for 2023 where he won the Glass City 200, North South Challenge and a Blizzard Race. He has six Snowball Derby top-10s across his 10 appearances in the race.
READ MORE: Pollard and Nasse, one year later
“After having the year I’ve had, it hurts worse to not be in this race,” Roderick said. “It’s just unfortunate. It just goes to show you the state of asphalt racing right now. Doug Stevens (crew chief) and I were talking the past couple of weeks, and he’s in dirt racing a lot, and he told me that if someone with my season didn’t have a ride going into the World 100, I’d have one in five minutes.
“There were some calls and nothing panned out but we’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds. I love racing and I’ve loved this sport since I was little. I’ve worked really hard and I’m going to keep working really hard to keep it going.”
All that leaves for this week is to go out and try to win the Snowflake again.
“This is a brand new FURY Race Car, the latest piece with all their new stuff,” Roderick said. “We’re really happy with it. We’re going to keep working on it and make it better.”
