MAXXFORCE TEAM SHOWS MANSFIELD MUSCLE

May 26, 2007

Looking forward to getting back to his short track roots David Starr and his International MaxxForce Diesel Team spent Monday of race week testing CB-23 nicknamed “Old Blue” for the Ohio 250. The test was just what the doctor ordered to revitalize the team after a disheartening weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. After an appearance on Thursday night for Craftsman, “The Official Tools of NASCAR”, Starr and his MaxxForce team rolled Old Blue from the hauler and got down to business.

Dodging rain all day the team worked on finding the right balance for their Ford F-150 versus concentrating on speed. Starr soon felt good about the feel of his MaxxForce Diesel Ford and the team was ready to qualify. The team drew an early qualifying spot and would cost them a good starting position. The first trucks out dealt with a green racetrack that had spots of oil and kerosene from the jet dryers earlier in the day. The 23rd starting spot was not indicative of how good the MaxxForce machine was.

From the drop of the green flag Starr was on the move and with only 18 laps in the book rain would stop the race for a 2 hour rain delay. After waiting out the rain, crew chief Dennis Connor played his first strategy card of the day calling Starr to pit road before the field took the green flag again. Mansfield is all about track position and the pit strategy works similar to a road course, the sooner you can stop for enough gas to go the distance the better. Connor called for right side tires a full fuel load of Sunoco gas and sent the MaxxForce Diesel back to the racetrack. The early stop would send Starr back to 30th but Connor was working for lap 250 not lap 50. Starr would restart 30th and start his march to the front. By lap 58 Starr was up to 15th, lap 64-14th, lap 72-13th, lap 75-12th, lap 76-11th, timing and scoring showed the 10 truck was turning the fastest lap times on the race track. Rain would again slow the field at lap 100 with Starr now in the top 10. After a 50-minute rain delay the green flag was flying and Starr was on the march again. Picking up spots in the top 10 came at a premium but Starr was on the march and would not be denied. 9th, 8th 7th all fell by the wayside as Starr regained his championship form. By lap 200 Starr was thinking top 5 but while racing side by side with Johnny Benson Starr cut the left rear tire on MaxxForce machine and with less than 50 to go a great day was gone. Starr stopped to fix the damaged tire and returned to the track a lap down. Back under green Starr showed how good his truck was, racing with the leaders. Another caution would allow Starr to get back on the lead lap and allow the MaxxForce team to salvage a 19th place finish.

Dennis Connor: “Our team showed a glimmer of what we are capable of. The guys worked hard and David was up on the wheel. Now that we’ve run in the top 10 it’s time for us to close the deal with a solid finish in Dover.”

David Starr: “Our International Maxx Force Diesel Ford F-150 was pretty awesome today. We had a bad draw for qualifying, that put us back in the pack to start the race. All the guys on our MaxxForce team, dug all day and we just gave it all we had. We thought we were going to get out of here with a top-five finish, but somebody got into the back of me and turned us around. We have a lot of momentum; our team is getting better and better. We haven’t really lived up to our expectations, we thought we’d be a lot better sooner, but that shows you how competitive the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is.” The International MaxxForce Diesel Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 8 of the 2007 season in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway on Friday June 1st at 4:45 PM EST. For live trackside reports of practice and qualifying go to truckseries.com. Live coverage of the race provided by MRN and Sirius Radio, tape delay race coverage on Speed at 8:00 PM.

Picture, International MaxxForce Diesel working traffic in the Ohio 250 at Mansfield Motorsports Park. Photo compliments of Ronda Greer.