Crooks Racing Has Busy Offseason and Even Busier 2012 Ahead

The 2011 season was a landmark year for Gary Crooks and his Crooks Racing company, but with the current off season coming to a close and the focus to the 2012 racing in full swing it looks as if 2012 could be even bigger and better.

The recent purchase of a new 9,000 square foot shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, the first GRIP Seminar in Portland, Maine, and the expansion of three driver development cars for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) under the Crooks Racing banner are all headlines leading up to the start of the 2012 racing year.

“Last year was an awesome year for Crooks Racing as a company and it showed at the race track. When I started Crooks Racing years ago I had a goal in mind on where I wanted to be as a company and so far I have been more than happy on the direction we are going and what’s to come here in 2012,” said Crooks when discussing his upcoming year of racing.

The new Crooks Racing headquarters, which features two surface plates, two car lifts, and ample office space, is already in full swing prepping for the 2012 Speedfest event taking place this weekend at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, Georgia. All new BKR development driver Austin Theriault will pilot the #29 BKR Checkered Flag Foundation Dodge Charger in the 200 lap event. In addition to Theriault, Nate Caruth will also join the BKR stable competing out of the Crooks Racing shop with sophomore super late model driver Landon Cling also returning to the fold. Both Nate Caruth and Cling will compete for the PASS South series championship title in 2012.

“I’m looking forward to going to the track with all three up-and-coming drivers from BKR, because I really get to take the opportunity to teach them what they need to learn to compete at this level of racing. We may not go out and win races right away, but the whole teaching aspect of this business I really enjoy,” said Crooks. “On the other hand I’ll be back with more seasoned guys like Trey Mitchell, Lonnie Sommerville, and Scott Mulkern with hopes of fine tuning all of their programs to win multiple races throughout the season. It really becomes the best of both worlds for a guy like me in this business.”

This off season Crooks also announced a partnership with RE Suspension owner Jason Enders to form GRIP Seminars to showcase in depth racecar chassis setup and fine tuning for the everyday short track racer. The first seminar of its kind took place from January 19-22nd in Portland, Maine with several topics such as chassis setup, aerodynamics, spotting, and track tuning all being covered throughout the four day event. The event was beyond successful as drivers and teams from all over the country and Canada participated in the inaugural GRIP Seminar event. The success of the event already has future GRIP Seminar dates and locations being discussed and will be announced sometime in the future.

Interested in the services Crooks Racing company provides? If so visit his website at www.crooksracing.com or contact Gary directly at 704.224.6672 for more information. For website, business, and public relations related issues contact Chris Ragle with Tex Motorsports Marketing at 940.393.3167 or cragle02@yahoo.com.