By Tommy Praytor, Circle Bar Racing
Photo(s): Rick Crawford receiving a special International Truck and Engine semi with Crawford’s 250th logo from International Truck and Engine presented by Bob Carso (left) and Matt Smela (right).
The days leading up to the American Commercial Lines 200 had become a blur of media appearances for Rick Crawford as he was scheduled to make his 250th career start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The media onslaught left the Mobile, Alabama native relishing the solitude of the cab of his Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150. Crew chief, Kevin “Cowboy” Starland, and the team had prepared the teams newest chassis “Blackjack” for Crawford’s 250th start. While it would be only the second start for Blackjack, Cowboy had a special feeling about his latest creation.
On race day, rain settled in at Atlanta Motor Speedway and washed out the mornings practice session. It did not washout Crawford’s media commitments for Friday. The day started with the Atlanta Fox affiliate with an appearance on Good Morning Atlanta. That rolled into an interview for truckseries.com followed by a talk with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The rain finally quit and at noon Crawford settled into his office, the cab of his Ford F-150. With the jet dryers working out the final wet spots on the race track Crawford wheeled his Circle Bar machine onto pit road for the only practice session for the American Commercial Lines 200. With his first few laps Crawford reported his truck felt good until he caught a glimpse of the scoring pylon that had him in the 20th position. The team then went to work trying to keep the feel while gaining speed. With the closing bell of the practice session Cowboy and the crew went to work making changes to the Power Stroke Diesel Ford for qualifying. While the crew went to work on the truck, Crawford went back to the media center for a special press conference for his 250th start. At the conclusion of the press conference Bob Carso and Matt Smela, from International Truck and Engine, presented Crawford with an International Tractor Trailer Rig decorated with Crawford’s 250th paint scheme. With his final media commitment out of the way it was time for Crawford to put his Ford in the show.
With the changes made after the last practice, Crawford’s first lap was a get to know you lap. The first lap felt like the changes were going in the right direction, the second lap it was time to mash the gas and the Circle Bar Power Stroke Diesel F-150 came to life jumping from 21st to 10th. With a solid qualifying effort Crawford was ready for the drop of the green flag jumping from 10th to 8th on the first lap. After an early caution Crawford was back on the move again moving up to 7th when the competition yellow came out at lap 25. With 25 laps on her tires Blackjack was trying to bust the Circle Bar team by getting loose on older tires. Cowboy called Crawford to pit road for a trac bar adjustment, 4 tires with air pressure changes and a full load of Sunoco. Back under green Crawford was on the march again, within 10 laps he was up to 5th looking for more. But just like in the first run as the tires went away so did the handling of his Ford F-150. Crawford was now working the high side of the looking for grip and a chance to bring his F-150 back to the attention of the over the wall gang. With a caution on lap 57 Crawford would get his wish and he wheeled the Power Stroke Diesel machine down pit road for more changes, 2 rounds of wedge, 4 Goodyears and full load of Sunoco fuel. Back under green Crawford was on the move and on lap 75 he turned the fastest lap of the night, so far. On lap 90 another caution would give the Circle Bar team one final shot at improving their F-150. A full service stop and a round of changes put the Power Stroke team back on track in the 7th position. By lap 97 Crawford was up to 3rd and on lap 98 Crawford turned a new fastest lap of the night and by lap 100 Crawford was second to Nextel Cup regular Clint Bowyer. As the laps wound down Crawford made a “bold move” for the lead that caused him to get loose and shuffled back to 4th. On the final restart Crawford was tagged from behind taking the green and would lose a spot back to 5th. In the closing laps Crawford would rally back to finish 4th to score his 122nd top 10 finish in his 250th start.
Kevin “Cowboy” Starland: “We struggled a little in practice but everyone kept working and we came up with a solid setup. We never quit adjusting on our F-150 and the over the wall guys had another solid night. Last race we snuck in a top 10 finish, this race we didn’t sneak up on anybody. Rick was on the gas from the drop of the green flag and we stayed in the top 5 all night.”
Rick Crawford: “It felt really good for the Ford F-150 to be competing for the lead, competing for a top five and running in the top five all night long. My hat's off to Kevin Starland in the pits for making the calls to keep that truck running up front. The Ford Power Stroke Diesel by Int'l did what it was supposed to do tonight. It's only the second race on that truck, I'm proud of the way it ran and I'm proud of the crew. My guys on pit stops made ground up on each and every stop. It was quite a night for the 250th start for the Circle Bar Racing team. None of it would be possible without Mr. Mitchell, I can’t thank him enough for having the confidence in me to drive his trucks.”
The Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 4 of the 2007 season in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, March 31st at 3:00 PM EST. For live trackside reports of practice and qualifying go to truckseries.com. Live coverage of the race provided by Fox, Speed Channel, MRN and Sirius Radio.
www.circlebarracing.com or www.rickcrawford.com