Roper Ready To ‘Finish The Job’ In Talladega Truck Return

Cory Roper's No. 04 FlyAlliance/CARQUEST Chevrolet Silverado RST for Talladega Superspeedway.

MONT BELVIEU, Texas – Owner-driver Cory Roper will be back behind the wheel of one of his own race vehicles this weekend for the first time since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener back in February.

Roper is entered in his own No. 04 FlyAlliance/CARQUEST Chevrolet Silverado RST for Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, attempting his second Truck Series start of the year and his third start at the 2.66-mile oval that ranks as the biggest track on the calendar.

It’s an appearance that has been top of mind for Roper ever since he was involved in a last-lap crash at Daytona, which scuttled his chances for a solid finish after running as high as fourth in that race.

“[Running Talladega] was always in the plan for me this year; we never deviated from that even after the wreck at the end of Daytona,” Roper explained. “I was hoping that with the races we fielded Marco [Andretti] in through the summer that we’d have enough points to be locked in [to the field], but that part is what it is, so we’ll go out there, qualify our way in, and look to have a better race this time.”

With 38 trucks entered for 36 starting spots, Roper will have to qualify his way in on speed in order to compete Friday afternoon at Talladega.

Should he beat seven trucks in time trials, Roper will be guaranteed to race, as the fastest 31 drivers in qualifying are locked into the Truck Series field each week.

The good news for the 47-year-old is that Talladega was the site of a positive memory in Roper’s Truck Series career three years ago, as one of his three career top-10 finishes came during his first Talladega start in 2021.

Roper drove from 31st to sixth that day, the same season he posted his career-best mark of third in the Truck Series at Daytona. Suffice it to say, superspeedway racing has always been good to Roper, even if he’s unsure exactly why the drafting events have provided him with some of his top showings.

“I really don’t know why we’ve run so well at Daytona and Talladega, because out of all the experience I’ve had in my racing career, superspeedways were definitely not something I spent much time doing,” admitted Roper. “But the first one I ever drove [in 2019], I looked up all of a sudden and I was running in the second row inside, and I just made a mistake coming off of [turn] four by pushing in the wrong place, lost the nose of the truck and took myself out.

“But I think it’s just kind of a case where I don’t just jump in there and put the bumper on the guy in front of me to push, you know? I’m looking way ahead, trying to be smart, and playing it like a chess game,” he added. “I really try to try to run a smart race and if I’m uncomfortable in a certain situation, I try to get out of it and put myself where I’m not overdriving the truck. It’s not that I ride in the back on purpose. I try to stay in a spot where everybody around me is not just pushing every single lap, because some of these guys just get up there and feel like they have to be full bore all the time and I just don’t understand why, because you can’t win it before the last lap.

“I think that’s been some of our success.”

Roper will carry the support of both FlyAlliance, a private jet service and aviation company, and auto parts distribution giant CARQUEST aboard his truck in his return to Talladega.

Both brands have been committed partners of Roper Racing over the past four years and have teamed up to co-sponsor Roper for the third straight race dating back to last year’s Talladega Truck Series round.

“I really liked the whole group of guys we get to work with, between Kevin [Wargo, FlyAlliance CEO] and his wife Wendy [Wargo, executive director], Chris [Tasca, president and co-founder], Snowden [Hernandez, VP of sales], everyone at FlyAlliance and all the folks with CARQUEST as well,” Roper noted. “They’re all just great people that have given us so much support from when we were first trying to get going in the Truck Series.

“FlyAlliance reached out to us early in our career, the second year or so that we were racing, and I ended up getting in business with them a little bit where we had a plane that they chartered for us for a short stint. And every year since then, Kevin and his crew have just really supported us,” Roper added. “They’re good friends of ours that have always been there to help us on the superspeedways, and I think they really like the superspeedway races and the buzz that always gets generated at those tracks.

“The goal is to go out, put ourselves in the field, and then hopefully give them a good showing up front when it matters in the race.”

Should he make the show Friday, Roper will run the 48th race of his Truck Series career as a driver since debuting in 2018, seeking his fourth career top 10 and first since Talladega three years ago.

After nearly tasting such a result eight months ago, Roper is eager to get back out and “finish the job” this time around.

“We were so fast in February. I was just biding my time,” he recalled. “I was going to restart around sixth near the end because I’d missed the big wreck, but I ran over something and had a left-front flat [tire], so I had to pit and start all over. Then of course, after that, it was a madhouse up there in front of me.

“Had to restart 26th on the last restart and a truck landed on top of my hood in the very las wreck … but we got her rebuilt and we’ve got a fast piece. [Crew chief] Bruce Cook and his guys have put in a ton of hard work to get this thing ready to go and I think we can really go out and do something with it.”

Qualifying coverage ahead of Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega is slated for 1 p.m. ET, live on FS2, with the race going green at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

About Roper Racing

Roper Racing is a family-owned NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race team based in Mont Belvieu, Texas, whose mission statement is “We build as a team and race as a team.”

The organization is owned by Vernon, Texas, native Cory Roper, who debuted as an owner-driver in 2018 and has fielded multiple drivers aboard the No. 04 Chevrolet Silverado over the past six years.

Roper Racing’s standout moment to-date came during the 2021 Truck Series opener at Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway, when Roper earned the team’s best finish of third in a three-wide, near-photo finish at the World Center of Racing.

Other drivers to pilot a Roper Racing entry since the team’s inception include Alabama veteran Roger Reuse, as well as past Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter and young stars like Kaden Honeycutt, Chase Briscoe, Spencer Davis, Landen Lewis, and Clayton Green.

NTT IndyCar Series veteran and 2022 Superstar Racing Experience champion Marco Andretti is contesting a part-time schedule with Roper Racing this season, as he transitions toward full-time stock car racing under the guidance of veteran crew chief Bruce Cook.

For more information on Roper Racing, visit the team’s website at https://roperracingteam.com/.