Jim Rogers went from not qualifying on Thursday to finishing fifth in the Saturday feature. The turnaround in fate occurred during the crate late model portion of the Super Bowl of Racing at Golden Isles Speedway in Waynesville, Georgia. It came as the result of the efforts of his crew — his girlfriend, Ansley Lumley, and his nine-year-old brother, Racer.
The trio’s efforts to dial in the ride caught the eye of parts retailer Jim Peterson Jr., of JP Performance.
“[Rogers] was a racer who worked hard every day with just his girlfriend and little brother,” Peterson said. “It was cool to see a family of racers digging to get where they knew they should be.”
Rogers said that he and his family simply love the sport. Rogers’ father, Jody, had raced, and Ansley came from a racing family.
“We’re racers, it is in our blood and we don’t have a choice,” said Rogers, 24, of Statesboro, Georgia. “Racer was even given his name because he is destined to be a racer.”
Rogers typically races 358-cid spec engines, but he swapped in a Chevrolet Performance 604 power plant to compete with the crates.
“We seemed to be tight when you have to be free when driving with a crate engine,” Rogers said. “My driving style is not decent with a crate engine. I was used to the 358 spec engine.”
He enlisted the help of good friend Brian Green, of Callahan, Florida, to help guide him on setup.
“You can do so much with the technology a late model has today that it is easy to get yourself spun out trying the crazy ideas people are talking about,” said Rogers. “We had to back up, punt, and go with what we know works.
The team went to work with the guidance Green gave.
“Racer takes the wheel covers and wheels off, and he pulls shocks off and puts them back on,” Rogers said. “Ansley is the pit orchestrator. She keeps things in line while getting her hands dirty helping.”
Ansley also performs another important function.
“Ansley is one of the best tire groovers in the nation, without a doubt,” said Rogers. “Her grooves are dead up straight and nearly perfect. If it wasn’t for her, I would be struggling.”
The efforts of the team resulted in a top five among some of the best crate late model racers in the country. Jim Rogers looks to return to racing with a 358 spec engine, and he can do so with renewed confidence in his team.
“Racer and Ansley love every minute of it,” Rogers said. “We’ll be running anywhere we can get to, whenever we can.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
