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 are heading back to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the SpeedyCash.com 400. Roper finished 12th the last race in Texas. This race will be Roper’s 13th start in the NASCAR truck series. TMS is the closest track to the Roper Racing Headquarters located just outside of Houston, Texas.
• 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 Speedway.com 400 race format will consist of 3 phases of 35/70/147 laps to equal 220.5 miles total.
• Last Race: In Charlotte Motor Speedway, Roper qualified an impressive 7th position directly in front of race winner Kyle Busch. This was Ropers first time to race at Charlotte. After a few tough restarts and getting comfortable with the track, Roper rounded out the pack at 20th position.
• 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 planned to run a full season for 2019, but had to scale back to a part time schedule due to funding. 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 was born and raised in Vernon, Texas. He comes from a family of hard workers who still work with him today in his company, Preferred Industrial Contractors, and for Roper Racing. Over half of the Roper Racing crew are family members who volunteer their personal time to work on the NASCAR trucks and travel to the races. 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.
Cory Roper, driver of the No. 04 Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. Ford F-150
What are your goals for Texas Motor Speedway?
“My goals are to qualify in the top ten and stay there all night. We qualified 7th in Charlotte and the crew worked really hard to bring a fast truck to the track. I had some trouble with restarts so I am hoping to have better restarts in Texas and run in the front to get a top 10 finish in my home state.”
Shane Whitbeck, crew chief of the No. 04 Preferred Industrial Contractors, Inc. Ford F-150
What are your goals for Texas Motor Speedway?
“Going back to Texas for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series is a weekend I am looking forward to. It is a home race for Roper Racing and we finished 12th place last time we were there so I am feeling that we can build on that and get into the top ten this time. Cory is doing a great job qualifying so I hope we can start in the top five and turn that into a solid finish. I feel like Texas is going to be a break out race for us as a company.”