By Tommy Praytor, Circle Bar Racing
Photo(s): Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150 on track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Photo compliments of Ronda Greer.
The open test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, the week before the Quaker Steak and Lube 200, left the Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International with more questions than answers. Chassis CB-21, better known as “Black Jack”, that had turned in a stellar performance in Kansas, with a runner up finish was struggling at Lowes Motor Speedway. Crew chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland made the short trip across the back parking lot of LMS to the team’s headquarters on Victory Lane behind the Speedway. The team worked all week on making changes to get their Power Stroke Diesel Ford F 150 back to the top of the leader board.
As race day arrived, the team unloaded a newly tooled “Black Jack” that they thought would get them to the front. The first practice session was disappointing and left the team 20 plus on the speed chart. The Power Stroke Diesel team went back to work on their F-150 and in the second practice session got back into the top 10 on the speed chart. Qualifying backed up their final practice session and the team would roll off 10th in the Quaker Steak and Lube 200. There are very few drivers in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series that shine as well as Rick Crawford when the lights come on. With the drop of the green flag, it was show time; Crawford took center stage and within 3 laps had moved from 10th to 3rd. By the 5th lap the Power Stroke Diesel Ford turned wicked loose and Crawford was now going backwards faster than he had gone forward. By lap 30 the 14 was all the back to the 22nd position and sliding all over the racetrack. With the caution flag in the air on lap 33 Crawford brought his machine to pit road to the healing hands of Cowboy Starland and the over the wall crew. Four fresh Goodyears a full load of Sunoco and a big round of changes, 2 rounds of wedge, trac bar and air pressure and Crawford was back on track. The changes helped some and back under green Crawford held his own, but still was not moving to the front. With another caution on lap 88 Crawford came back to pit road and the over the wall gang performed another round of changes, 4 tires and fuel and picked up 3 spots on pit road. Back on track Crawford felt his ailing Ford F-150 come to life and he started to pick up spots. With 5 to go Crawford went 3 wide to get back in the top 10. A final caution would once again take the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to a green, white, checker finish. With the drop of the green flag Crawford was looking for more and with the white flag in the air had moved up to 8th. On the final lap Crawford made another bold move trying for the 6th spot. The move went the other way when Crawford got trapped on the low side and the high side moved past relegating him to a 10th place finish. The finish was the 125th top ten for the Circle Bar team and keeps the Power Stoke Diesel Ford team in the top 5 in the Championship point’s standings.
Kevin “Cowboy” Starland: “We’re still looking for the right combination with the tire we had. The guys never gave up and with 10 to go there isn’t any better than Crawford. We’re not happy with a top 10 and that should tell you a lot about the expectations we have for our team.”
Rick Crawford: “Our Ford F-150 started out extremely strong and it just went away. Our Power Stroke by International team finally got a handle on it with 50 laps to go and we were able to make some bold moves to get back in the top 10. Cowboy and the guy’s hard work paid off. It’s nights like tonight, when you don’t have your best stuff and come out with a top 10, that’s what wins championships.”
The Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 7 of the 2007 season in the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway on Saturday May 26,th at 1:00 PM EST. For live trackside reports of practice and qualifying go to truckseries.com. Live coverage of the race provided by Fox, MRN and Sirius Radio.
www.circlebarracing.com or www.rickcrawford.com