Forgive Roger Crockett if he doesn’t shake your hand.
It isn’t out of disrespect or arrogance. Crockett simply can’t take the risk. Because on Nov. 11 of last year, Crockett received a kidney transplant and his immune system has been drastically weakened.
“The biggest thing that’s really an issue right now is, because it suppresses your immune system so much, you really got to watch what you are around,” he said. “People want to come up to me and shake my hand, and they don’t understand why I don’t want to. If I’m around that too much I’m going to get sick and not be able to race. I’ve really got to protect myself from that.”
In addition to popping about 10 pills per day, Crockett has been forced to put his health first. That includes a good diet, plenty of liquids and abstinence from alcohol.
While his pill schedule can be difficult to maintain, arguably the biggest challenge for the race car driver is cleanliness.
“I know it’s kinda funny racing on dirt, but you’ve really got to wash your hands a lot,” Crockett said.
Despite the challenges, the 28 year old from Medford, Ore., said he has never felt better. With his kidney function at single digits a year ago, Crockett struggled to find energy at times – notably when he’d crawl out of his race car following lengthy feature races.
Vivacity hasn’t been a problem this season.
“It’s a night and day difference,” Crockett said. “I feel great. I just feel good all the time pretty much.”
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Brian Crockett remembers his son taking every bit of energy to climb out of his sprint car at the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., last October.
The track was rough and Roger Crockett had exhausted himself.
“It was the worst I’d ever seen him,” Brian Crockett said. “He was wearing down.”
At that point, Roger Crockett’s kidney function was approximately six percent. If not for a match with his father, Roger Crockett was only weeks away from being forced into dialysis for kidney failure.
Approximately a month after the 2008 season ended and a month before the elder Crockett began managing the Cottage Grove Speedway in Cottage Grove, Ore., the duo went to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Ore., for the transplant.
“It’s just awesome to have such good parents and such good family,” said Roger Crockett, who had an undetected blockage in his kidneys when he was born.
Both walked out of the hospital within a week and the progress has been nearly perfect in the eight months since the transplant.
While the first year is the most challenging, the battle to stay healthy will be forever. In addition to the daily pills and diet change, Crockett is also forced into weekly blood tests.
All of it is to monitor a new organ that his body could reject at any point. So far, it has been a green light toward a successful and healthy future.
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Crockett started off this season by winning seven consecutive races, capped by the American Sprint Car Series Northwest Region season opener at the Southern Oregon Speedway in White City, Ore. – a track only minutes from Crockett’s home.
He has since won a handful of other races, including the most recent Northwest Region race – June 27th at the Electric City Speedway in Great Falls, Mont., which was the fifth different state Crockett has won in.
In fact, Crockett has now amassed 118 feature victories since he began racing sprint cars at the age of 13 years old. He is currently fourth in the Northwest Region points, only 28 points behind the leader.
“It seems to me he’s driving every bit as good if not better now than he ever has,” Brian Crockett said. “I noticed that from the first time he raced this year. He just seems a tiny bit sharper.”
While his improving health has played a major role in the success, so has new car owner Steve Swinney, who co-owns the car with his wife, Kim. The Swinney’s, longtime sprint car fans and sponsors, have basically given Crockett a blank check and unwavering support.
“We’ve known and liked Roger for years,” Steve Swinney said. “It’s just that we always rooted against him because we had someone racing against him.
“He’s always had an upbeat attitude and always been great. It looks like he’s got a little more zip in his (step).”
With a renewed vigor and support system, Crockett is exactly where he wants heading into the Northwest Region’s Speedweek, which kicks off five races in six days on July 13 at the Southern Oregon Speedway.
Crockett, the winningest Northwest Region driver with seven victories in 19 career events, is the defending Speedweek champion. Also a four-time champion of the Northern Sprint Tour, the Northwest’s traveling sprint car series from 1996-2006, Crockett is chasing his first ASCS title.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to have good opportunities and good people behind me most of my racing career,” he said. “You throw that in with becoming healthier by a lot … it’s a whole different deal.
“A lot of days I don’t even realize how good I feel until I sit down. The energy level is so much better. It’s pretty cool to have the ambition and the energy to do it.”
