ROCKINGHAM — Once Derick Gaskins gained the lead in Saturday’s Crown 9 race, he kept his foot on the gas and never looked back.
Gaskins, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, qualified third before taking the checkered flag in both his heat race and the final showdown in the series’ first event of the 2025 season at Rockingham Speedway.
While this was his second race in the series — having competed in the final event in 2024 — Gaskins is no stranger to the infield road course as a driver in the grassroots MB Drift Series for the past several years.
That drifting experience, he said, paid off.
“I was really racing myself,” Gaskins said after being presented with a check for $1,200. “I wasn’t trying to look in my mirrors — because any time I looked in my mirrors I would start over-driving. I would just try to feel the lap, try to improve on that lap.”
Derrick Gaskins holds up his check for winning the Crown 9 race at Rockingham Speedway on March 22.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
While he has yet to make the podium with MB Drift, Gaskins did recently place second in the winter drift series at Off Grid Motorsports Park in Gresham, South Carolina.
Gaskins is hopeful his luck will continue throughout the season with the Crown 9, MB Drift and Catch My Drift series.
“Honestly, this is a confidence booster, for sure,” Gaskins said.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
Although he started the final race, Gaskins was overtaken by his father, Steven “Smokey” Gaskins — a former dirt track driver who, until last year, hadn’t been behind the wheel in 30 years — who also won his respective heat race.
Smokey Gaskins led the first four laps before last year’s runner-up Mark Dysart moved ahead.
However, Gaskins was able to get around both his father and Dysart on the 14th lap to hold on for the win.
Smokey Gaskins said he was hoping for a 1-2 finish with his son, but wound up taking fourth place.
“Got tangled up with some slow cars, but hey, that’s racing,” Smokey Gaskins said, giving praise to Derick. “He’s a heck of a driver, proud to call him my son.
“It was an awesome day to be able to start on the pole with my son, I mean, you don’t get to do that often.”
Smokey Gaskins, left, embraces his son, Derick Gaskins, who won the first race of the 2025 Crown 9 Champion Series.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Gaskins was at the track two weeks before for MB Drift’s Spring Matsuri, drifting “door-to-door” with his 17-year-old son, Cameron.
“It was his only third-ever event, so it was pretty cool to be out here drifting with him and I’m out here racing with my dad,” Gaskins said.
The Gaskins clan had originally planned to run at a dirt track after Saturday’s race, “but we kinda ran out of time.”
While he enjoyed the win — spinning donuts before heading back to the garage — Gaskins said the day was more about making memories with friends and family.
TRADING PLACES
Despite being as far back as eighth, 2024 season champ Sergio Pena battled his way to the front — starting at fifth and dealing with two blown tires along the way.
Sergio Pena stands near his car prior to the start of the final showdown.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
“It was a crazy race, man,” Pena said. “Last year, I had the luxury of being out front so I didn’t really have to know what was going on in the middle of the field.”
Pena gave credit to his pit crew for changing the first tire in less than a minute.
After the second flat, Pena said he decided to hold back and “let all the other guys battle and see where I end up at the end.”
He ended up in second — after cruising past Doug Horn and Smokey Gaskins in the last few laps.
Although he said it was a fun race, Pena thought it was also “a little bit too reckless.”
“I think everyone was out there just wrecking each other, not really caring if they make the turn,” Pena said. “If they’re not going to make it, they seem to just use your car to slow it down … If I get raced that way, I’m going to race even harder back.”
Sergio Pena trails behind Alex Bradley early in the final showdown of the season's first race.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Pena added that he recently picked up Taco Factory in Rockingham as a sponsor and the logo should be on his car for the next race. He said he frequently eats there when he has his driving courses at the track.
Dysart — who stayed on Pena’s bumper all of last season — came in third, followed by Smokey Gaskins, Horn, Alex Bradley, Andy Cooke, Andy Blackwood, Bennett Deane and Roger Seago rounding out the top 10, respectively.
Deane, a Rockingham city councilman and vice chairman of the Richmond County Tourism Development Authority, was competing for his first time in the series.
“It was so much fun out there,” Deane said. “I tried to stay out of the fast cars’ way — didn’t want to bother them — but just tried to keep it on the track…”
Deane had a few run-ins with another local driver, Rex Crouch. The two used to race go-karts together when they were younger.
“Rex didn’t want to give up the inside line…when you’re beside each other and you have the inside line, it’s yours — but Rex didn’t see it that way,” Deane said lightheartedly.
Bennett Deane stands outside his car during the driver introductions.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Deane thanked the Russells and the track ownership for having the grassroots series at the track.
“I don’t know when I’ve spent $200 and had as much fun,” Deane said. “To come out here and be able to go fast and have some competition, it just really is a lot of fun.”
Deane said he’s looking forward to the rest of the season and plans to tune up the car “and see if we can move up a little bit.”
Blackwood, with the Gaskins Motorsports team, and Seago were also first-timers in the series.
Other drivers in the race included Steve Franklin and Jon Morton. Franklin ran one race in the inaugural season and Morton competed in all three.
Eli Russell and Eric Sutton were signed up for the race, but mechanical trouble kept them off the track. Shorty Lacey was also registered, but didn’t compete.
The second race of the season is scheduled for April 26 — the weekend after NASCAR returns to the Rock.
See additional photos from the writer at the RO's Facebook page and from Terry Clark at visitrichmondcounty.com.
