High Sierra Photo

The No. 14 Circle Bar Truck Corral team and veteran driver Rick Crawford is used to traveling long distances to race in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Sometimes cross country with flights that require 2 or 3 connections, but this weeks commute to the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 at Lowes Motor Speedway would only require a golf cart. The Circle Bar shop, once housed NASCAR Champion Alan Kulwicki's team, sits in the shadow of the famed mile and half speedway. With the racetrack that close, the team considers it to be home territory and the team had high expectations for their home turf.

The week before the race, the Circle Bar team spent 2 days in Chicago testing a new Ford F-150, chassis CB18. What they learned at the test was applied to the truck upon its return to the race shop and the team was ready to race. With new pavement at Lowe's, the truck teams were given an extra test day at the speedway to prepare for the race on Friday night. During the Thursday test the Circle Bar team concentrated on race setups and they were confident they had a solid truck for the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 on Friday night. After the day long test the team took out the practice motor and installed the new Rousch race motor. Friday morning the team returned to the track with a bounce in their step with the knowledge they were on right on track. Early practice sessions confirmed their test results from the previous day and the team posted a 5th place qualifying effort.

From the drop of the green flag Crawford new he had a solid truck, within a few laps he was up to 4th and in cruise control keeping the leader in sight, racing for the final laps not the first. On lap 49 the caution flag flew for debris on the racetrack. Cowboy Starland called the Circle Bar machine to pit road for an adjustment, fresh Goodyear tires and fuel. The over the wall crew went to work when a tire from another truck rolled into their pit box and knocked down 2 of the Circle Bar team costing them precious time. The Circle Bar Ford came in 4th and left 14th. Back on track Crawford was a man on a mission. He quickly started picking off trucks as he made his way up to 7th. With 25 to go Crawford dove in hard for 6th and the truck washed up the racetrack. Up out of the groove the Circle Bar Machine would loose momentum and fall back to an 11th place finish. While the team had hoped for more a solid finish kept the team within 60 points of 6th place in the standings.

Crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland; "The guys did another great job and we just have really weird stuff happen every week. Next week during pit practice I'm going to have someone roll tires at the boys while their practicing their stops. I don't know maybe next week we'll shoot live ammunition over their head during practice, that way we'll be prepared for anything."

Driver Rick Crawford; "Some people hit the setup just right and some missed it. We had a great truck. I had a good setup and I felt comfortable and fast all night long. My hat's off to Cowboy and the whole crew for setting it up. It ran good since we tested it at Chicago last week and it ran good since we landed here. It's a brand-new truck, so it's now got one under its belt, but it deserved a better finish than that."