Crocker ready to see familiar faces at Loudon

A lot of people that I am close to and have helped me in my career will be at New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend.

The track in Loudon is only about two or three hours from my hometown in Wilbraham, Mass., so my brothers have organized a bus for friends and family to make the trip.

	Erin Crocker drives the No. 98 Dodge in the Truck Series. Credit: Autostock
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They're going to do some sort of tailgating thing before the race and I'm going to make an appearance. I have some close relatives that have garage passes, so it'll be really neat.

A lot of them don't know what I go through day to day or what racing is all about. Even my one of my sisters hasn't been to one of my stock car races yet.

James Earl Wilcox, my dad's best friend who passed away before my dad, his wife Janet will be there. He really got me into this and was like a second father to me.

My dad met James in quarter midget racing. My brother drove for him for a number of years and then I drove for him for a few years. I would go spend weekends at their house when my dad would go with my brother racing. They were pretty instrumental in my life.

I had two brothers that raced and one sister raced quarter midgets for three years. We never really got an opportunity to race against each other because of the age difference. I think I raced against one of my brothers twice.

When my father passed away my brothers took over his business and got away from racing, so we never had the opportunity after that.

I always say if I make it big or make it into Nextel Cup I'll run a modified team for my brother. He's extremely talented.

My sister that raced is eight or nine years older than me. I wasn't near racing when she was in the car. My dad considered her a social racer. She'd let her friends pass her and pass them back.

Her career didn't last too long. One time she was racing against one of my brothers and she was telling my dad that she gave him better equipment. They did the old switch-a-roo and he still beat her, so that was pretty much the end of it for her.

He never called me a social racer. When I was younger I had the nickname "Crash and Lightning.''

My dad moved me up in divisions really, really fast. My brother was doing well and he wanted me to keep moving on, so I would either do really well or crash people.

It wasn't until I got into the Sprint cars that I learned to settle down. "Crash and Lightning" is a hard nickname to overcome, but people would rather have somebody that is aggressive and calm them down.

You can't take someone who is not aggressive and make them aggressive.

There will be a lot of friends at the track that knew me back then, a lot of friends from my dad's business.

Both of my aunts and uncles will be there. I spent a lot of time with both of them growing up, snow skiing with one set a lot.

I used to ski race a lot in New Hampshire. I was pretty good. I actually tried to go to college for it, but not too many colleges offered Division I skiing scholarships.

I started a little late, not until seventh grade, so I wasn't as good as some of the top skiers.

It's all about the speed and competition for me. Even now I've been looking into a club soccer league or competitive tennis. I enjoy the competitive part, the teamwork part of it and the exercise.

But my first priority is getting competitive back on the track.