LAPPED TRAFFIC CRUSH CRAWFORD AT DOVER

Jun 1, 2007

Rick Crawford and his Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International team own a pole and have recorded more laps at Dover than anyone else in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history, what they didn’t have was a win. With the AAA Insurance 200 in mind, crew chief, Kevin “Cowboy” Starland, prepared a new Circle Bar Chassis, CB-22, for the Monster Mile.

Chassis CB-22, arrived with an early nickname of Double Deuce and a lot of promise for a team coming off a great run with a lousy finish in Mansfield. Leading the race with a dozen laps to go, a cut right front tire would send the Power Stroke Ford F-150 to pit road and put an end to the teams shot at victory lane. The Double Deuce unloaded quick but not up to the teams standards. Cowboy and the gang went to work on their latest creation and by the end of the second practice the team was just outside of the top 10 on the speed chart. The team backed up its practice lap time during qualifying and would roll off 13th.

The start of the AAA Insurance 200 reminded everyone why Dover is called the Monster Mile. The Monster claimed a half dozen trucks on the first lap and nearly collected Crawford’s Power Stroke Diesel machine. Lap 1, the Double Deuce dodged the first bullet, lap 12 dodged another bullet on the restart. After 2 early cautions Crawford was able to make 20 green flag laps and get a feel for what the new chassis was looking for. With another caution on lap 38 Crawford brought his Power Stroke Diesel Ford to the attention of Cowboy and the over the wall gang. Four fresh Goodyears, a load of Sunoco and some changes whispered to the crew and Crawford was back on track. Back under green, Crawford was making double time with the Double Deuce. Starting 13th the team’s Ford F-150 was now up to 9th by lap 100, Crawford was up to 4th and looking for more. Just past the half way mark Crawford took 2nd. The Power Stroke Diesel team was styling and profiling at the Monster Mile. 25 laps later another truck would spin in front of Crawford causing him to spin, putting the Double Deuce hard into the outside retaining wall. The over the wall gang went from preparing for a regular stop to damage repair. Many stops later and with some extended time on pit road, the wounded Circle Bar machine made it back on track, another victim of the Monster Mile. The Power Stroke Diesel team put in another stellar performance only to have the record book show a 23rd place finish.

Kevin “Cowboy” Starland: “I’m speechless, we were ready to make a quick green flag stop and we got bit again. I’ve already got my Stetson packed I’m ready to go to Texas.”

Rick Crawford: "Cowboy and the guys brought another nice piece. Our Power Stroke Diesel Ford F-150 had another shot at winning and we got taken out by lapped traffic. This is a tough deal to swallow, 2 weeks in a row, great trucks and a 20 something place finishes. We’ll get back on track in Texas.”

The Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 9 of the 2007 season in the Sam’s Town 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday June 8th at 8:30 PM EST. For live trackside reports of practice and qualifying go to truckseries.com. Live coverage of the race provided by Speed, MRN and Sirius Radio.

Picture, Power Stroke Diesel Team trying to get Crawford back on track. Photo compliments of Teresa Kirkendall, Circle Bar PR.