Crawford: Pit Gamble Comes Up Short

Oct 27, 2007

Rick Crawford and his Power Stroke Diesel by International team rolled into Atlanta Motor Speedway for the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 looking to add to their string of top 5 finishes and move closer to the top 5 in the Championship points standings. The month of October had been good to the Circle Bar team with their Ford F-150 finishing 2nd at Talladega and 5th in Martinsville. But the solid finishes gained them little ground on the 5th spot with Johnny Benson finishing either right behind or very close to their Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150.

Over the years the Atlanta Motor speedway has resembled Halloween for the Circle Bar race team with the famed mile and half offering both tricks and treats. The first 3 starts at AMS were with good trucks that ended up needing a wrecker or a push to get back to the hauler. The last 3 starts have netted the team top 10’s and the hope for another good run were high as they unloaded their Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150. Off the hauler, Crawford felt like the team had a fast truck but the new tire compound chosen for the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 by NASCAR was not as good as the tire in the Spring. With a questionable tire the team kept it’s runs on the short side while other teams were seeking back up trucks and doing body work. Even with the limited practice laps the team had the Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150 in the top 5 on the speed charts. Crawford backed up their practice speed qualifying 6th and the team was looking forward to the green flag. With the start of the race Crawford was looking for grip, as his F-150 was loose off the corners. With a questionable tire being used for the race, NASCAR called for a competition caution on lap 30. Crew Chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland called the Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150 to pit road for 4 fresh Goodyears, a full load of Sunoco fuel and a host of changes including air pressure, 1 round up on the trac bar and 1 round in the left rear. The changes would cost the team a couple of spots on pit road and Crawford would rejoin the race in 10th position. Back under green Crawford was buried in traffic battling with lead lap and lap down trucks for position. The Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150 was still loose and Crawford was fighting to stay in the lead pack waiting for another caution to bring his F-150 to the attention of Cowboy and the over the wall crew. The Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150 would fall back to 14th before the caution flag would fly again on lap 81. Four fresh Goodyears, Sunoco fuel and with another round of changes the over the wall crew picked up 2 spots on pit road. With new rubber and the latest changes Crawford was able to hold onto the 12th position for the next 20 laps when a caution on lap 105 would give the Circle Bar team their last chance at adjusting their Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150. Always looking for an edge, Cowboy made the call for a 2-tire stop to gain valuable track position. The call paid big dividends as the Power Stroke Diesel by International team moved from 12th to 3rd with 20 to go. In order for the gamble to pay off some of the other leaders would need to take 2 tires also. Unfortunately, everyone behind Crawford had 4 fresh Goodyears and the Mobile, Alabama native would be a sitting duck. On lap 110 the field took the green flag and Crawford was making bold moves to hang on and it looked like the team would settle for a 7th place finish. Fate would have other plans, as another caution would bunch the field back together for a single file restart with 10 to go. With no lap trucks to use as blockers the Power Stroke Diesel by International F-150 was being gobbled up like Halloween candy. The final 10 laps would cost the Circle Bar team 5 more spots and relegate them to a 12th place finish.

Crew Chief Kevin “Cowboy” Starland: “We didn’t have the race truck we thought we had after qualifying. We just kept working and Rick and the guys never gave up. We got the truck pretty good there at the end and our 2-tire stop didn’t work out for us. I really don’t understand changing the tire package from the Spring race. This tire didn’t stay with us like the original tire did. This should have been a good weekend for us. We had good truck in the spring to have all that thrown out with a new tire compound. Texas is an important race for us and we’ll get back after it this week.”

Rick Crawford: “It was tough day for our Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-Series pick-up, but our F-150 is built Ford tough. We came home without a scratch but we should have been in the top five. We kept adjusting on it and there at the end you realize on your last stop, and that’s one thing about the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, you don’t get a lot of adjustability built in because there’s not many cautions. There at the end I think Cowboy Starland and the Circle Bar crew really figured out what was wrong with it but there wasn’t any adjustments left. Cowboy made a call to take 2 tires and get us track position but we just couldn’t hold on to it.”

The Circle Bar/Power Stroke Diesel by International Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 23 of the 2007 season in the Chevy Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday November 2nd at 8:30 PM EST. For live trackside reports of practice and qualifying go to truckseries.com. Live coverage of the race provided by MRN, Sirius Radio and Speed.

Picture: Crawford and Brendan Gaughan battling at Atlanta Motor Speedway during the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Photo courtesy of Ronda Greer.

www.circlebarracing.com or www.rickcrawford.com