Despite Unusual Work Schedule, Crews Racing To South Boston Success

Trey Crews was rolling along with a near-perfect season in the Limited Sportsman Division at South Boston Speedway until he hit a most unusual speed bump for him last Saturday night.

 

The 22-year-old Crews wrecked and wrecked hard in the second of two 35-lappers Saturday night. For some that’s not unusual. For Crews, it was a first.

 

The car had to be totally stripped down and sent off to the chassis shop for repairs.

 

“This is the first time since I bought this car in 2014 that we’ve had to do this,” Crews said Wednesday afternoon.

 

That’s the bad news. The good news? Crews’ car was already back in his shop, well on the way to being race-ready by Wednesday.

 

“A lot of people just showed up at the shop to help us,” said Crews. “About five people stripped it down Sunday and we got it to TORP Chassis on Monday. They got it back to us Tuesday. That’s an awesome job of turning it around.”

 

By late Wednesday Crews just about had his racer ready for the track again. And that’s a good thing. Crews’ work schedule is a little different from most. He’s on the road most of the time as a turbine mechanic for Duke Energy. His window for working on his car is very small.

 

“I travel with work. I never know when I’ll get called out for an outage. I travel 90 percent of the time,” said Crews. Many weeks, the day after a Saturday night race is the only time he has to work on his car and get ready for the next race. Fortunately he wasn’t scheduled to travel this week.

 

It certainly hasn’t slowed his progress on the track. After a solid rookie season in 2014, Crews won the Limited Sportsman track championship in 2015. He’s back in championship form this season, even though Saturday night was a bit of a setback

 

He has three wins on the season and had not finished out of the top five all year until last Saturday. He struggled with brake problems in the first 35-lapper and finished seventh and then crashed out of the second race to finish 10^th. He still leads the points, though, albeit a narrow nine-point margin over David Latour Jr.

 

“I’m not quite as comfortable in the points as I was,” said Crews. “I’d like to win a few more and finish in the top three.

 

“I’m really pleased with the season. For me to be working out of town and come home to race on Saturday, the success has been good.”

 

With just 14 points separating Crews and third-place Colin Garrett, the Limited Division points race is the tightest at South Boston this season. Crews’ struggles last Saturday night demonstrated the dangers of a bad race.

 

“I had a brake problem in the first race. I was in the car working on them when the race was ready to start. I got it fixed just in time and tacked on to the end of the field to start the race. I got up to seventh but the brakes weren’t fully fixed,” said Crews, who is sponsored by Stallings Collision Center, Creed Home Improvement, Team Industrial, Tanner Automotive, Puryear Shocks, Anderson Lawn Care, Owen Farms, Red Ball Oxygen, Mincey Graphics and TORP Chassis.

 

“We got them fixed good for the second race. We had a good car. Colin (Garrett) and I touched just a hair. Something broke on the right front and I hit the wall. The track is so fast and this division is so competitive, it’s hard not to touch.”

 

Crews has gotten some coaching from Late Model veteran Stacy Puryear the last few weeks that have been beneficial. “We text back and forth. I’ve learned a lot from that. He’s a good guy to work with,”

 

Crews said of Puryear. “I hope to get him out to the track with me one night.”

 

Crews said his strategy down the stretch will not change from the past few years.

 

“I try to be smart. That’s why I’ve had as much success as I’ve had,” said Crews. “But a true racer, when they get behind the wheel, they are out to win.”

 

And Crews is a true racer.

 

Racing returns to South Boston Speedway July 29 with the NASCAR Late Model 100, featuring a 100-lap Late Model race, twin 25-lap races for the Limited Sportsman, twin 15-lap races for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division and a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division.

 

Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for youth ages 7-12. Kids ages six and under are admitted free with a paid adult.