Truck: No. 04 Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. Ford F-150 for Roper Racing
Crew chief: Shane Whitbeck
Texas Motor Speedway Notes of Interest • Team owner and Driver, Cory Roper, and the #04 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Team have a short distance to travel for this weekend’s Vankor 350 truck race because the team’s headquarters are located in South Texas. This race will be Roper’s 11th start in the NASCAR truck series.
• The Track: Texas Motor Speedway is located in Fort Worth, Texas and is a 1.44 mile track. TMS is the 5th largest motor racing venue by capacity in the U.S. Friday’s Vankor 350 race format will consist of 3 phases of 35/70/147 laps to equal 220.5 miles total.
• Last Race: Due to mechanical issues with the brakes during the race and a broken rear end with 13 laps to go, Roper finished p31 in Martinsville Speedway.
• The Team: Roper Racing headquarters are located on the outskirts of Houston, Texas in Mont Belvieu. Roper Racing fields the No. 04 Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. Ford F-150 and 2019 season marks the team’s second year into competing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. The team plans to run a full season for 2019. The Team is currently self-funded by Roper who is actively seeking sponsorship to continue to build this new and upcoming successful race team.
• The Driver: Cory Roper is currently in contention for Sunoco’s Rookie of the Year for the 2019 NGOTS season. Roper is no stranger to racing. He grew up watching his dad, Kenny Roper, compete. At the age of 14, Roper got his first racecar and started competing at the local and regional levels at short tracks in Texas and Oklahoma, where he won Points and Track Championships. The Vernon, Texas, native now resides in Mont Belvieu, Texas with his wife, Cherie and daughters Megan and Britney.
• The Crew Chief: NASCAR veteran Shane Whitbeck serves as crew chief for the No. 04 Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. Ford F-150. The Sarasota, Florida, native previously worked at Brad Keselowski Racing for 10 years. Whitbeck relocated to Texas at the end of 2018 season as a full time Crew Chief for Roper Racing.
• The Trucks: At the conclusion of the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, Roper Racing Team purchased 16 Ford F-150 trucks and a number of additional assets from the Brad Keselowski Racing stable to build Roper Racing Team.
• About Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc.: Roper Racing Team is actively seeking sponsorship to grow the race team but is currently self-funded by Roper’s company, Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. (PIC). PIC is a global industrial construction, fabrication and maintenance company, headquartered in Baytown, Texas. The company executes turnkey construction projects from scope development, safety management, project controls, project management, procurement, staffing, fabrication and construction. Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. serves the power, chemical processing and refining industries.