This Week In Ford Racing Rick Crawford

Nov 14, 2007

Rick Crawford, driver of the No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel By International Ford F-150, talks about racing in the Ford 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Crawford won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1998 and talks about the significance in winning during Ford Championship Weekend.

RICK CRAWFORD – No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150 – WE’RE HEADING INTO THE FINAL RACE OF THE SEASON. “It’s always neat to go back to a place where you put a F-Series pick-up in victory lane before and I did that in 1998. That was my first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win. This year we’re going back with the Ford Power Stroke Diesel by International with the blue oval and Ford Championship Weekend. We’re carrying some confidence into that weekend. We’ve had a great year. We made a lot of bold moves in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series; I’m looking forward to going back to Homestead. A victory is in sight. I’m pleased to be part of Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead.”

DOES RACING IN MIAMI HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING TO YOU, NOT JUST AS A FORD DRIVER? “Yeah and a couple of years after we won, we came in second to the late Bobby Hamilton [in 2003] and it was a great race. I actually beat him to the white flag and then he turned around and beat me to the checkered flag. I have some memorable moments there both good and bad. The good outweigh the bad, but you keep thinking about them. It’s a neat, fan-friendly weekend for everybody involved. It’s a great weekend for Ford Motor Company, who has already crowned a Busch Series Champion. We need to do our part and race hard in the Craftsman Truck Series on Friday night and bring a race win home for Ford.”

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SEEMS TO BE A TRACK THE FORD DRIVERS PREFER. “Yes and we realize how important racing is to the Ford Motor Company and those of us in the Ford family of racing. Week in and week out, I don’t know what causes it, but it’s just like when we go to Texas, you see the 14 truck up front at Texas because that’s our home state and race track for the boss Tom Mitchell. And then you go to Miami with the banner of Ford Championship Weekend, you know what that means to the manufacturer and the best comes out.”

HOW DO YOU LIKE THE TRACK? “It’s a fun, wide multi-groove race track. The people at Homestead-Miami have made continuous improvements to the race track and they keep making it better. They’ve done a really good job; they’ve really made a race track out of it for all forms of racing. I don’t think there is a driver in any forming of racing that doesn’t like to race there.”

TALK ABOUT YOUR 11th SEASON IN THE TRUCK SERIES. “We had a good year. I was talking to my boss Lisa Carnes last night and no matter what happens, the 14 truck has had a great year. If you look at the past records on average finishes, the 14 truck this year had an average finish that would have won a championship. We’ve had an exception season with the two guys battling for the championship. The 14 truck has had a good year. We learned a lot, we’ve raced hard. The Ford F-Series pick-up was fun to drive this year and it performed week in and week out this season.”