After a mediocre short track performance at Memphis the Circle Bar Truck Corral Team went back to the drawing board to try and fix their favorite short track chassis. CB-17 had taken the team to victory lane in Louden a year ago and was wrecked hard in St' Louis earlier this year. The team rebuilt the truck and put it back in service in Memphis. The performance in Memphis was not up to Circle Bar standards and crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland called for more changes and the team tested the truck during the off week. The test was productive and helped answer some of the questions about what CB-17 needed to go fast.

The team felt better about their truck when they unloaded at O'Reilly Raceway Park but not confident they had a winner. The first practice session had the team 16th on the speed chart and some started to doubt they had fixed their short track problems but not Cowboy. Cowboy used the knowledge gained from the test and the team changed almost everything under the truck. The changes paid dividends and the Circle Bar Ford F-150 went from 16th to 2nd in the final practice. A few more tweaks and driver Rick Crawford wheeled the Circle Bar machine to a 3rd place starting position and a pre-race favorite to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200.

From the drop of the green flag Crawford knew he had a good truck and settled into 2nd place while he and Cowboy worked on a plan to take their Circle Bar Ford to victory lane. Cowboy knew track position would be key and the idea would be to pit as soon as they thought they could make the distance on gas. With the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series making its first start on unleaded fuel, the big question mark in this equation was fuel mileage. With the caution flag flying on lap 58, Cowboy would call the Circle Bar F-150 to pit road. The over the wall gang performed a great stop and Crawford would go back on track leading the group that pitted. With different strategies being played out the team would restart 6th but they wouldn't be there long. Under green Crawford gobbled up the trucks in front of him like a pacman on steroids. By lap 80 Crawford had the lead and was putting distance on the field. While the Ford F-150 was putting in a stellar performance on the track, bad news was playing out in the Circle Bar pit area. With a complete fuel run now in the books, motor man Tim Harris was able to calculate how much fuel was used in the first run and how much was needed to make it to the end. The news was not good, they were 1 lap short and a green white checker finish would leave the Circle Bar Ford sucking air instead of gas. With the championship hanging in the balance Cowboy made the tough decision to bring the Circle Bar machine to pit road 1 more time. On lap 123 Crawford's 4.6-second lead would evaporate when Chad Chaffin hit the turn 3 wall. It was now or never for the final stop and the Circle Bar F-150 made its way to pit road for fuel and 4 fresh Goodyears.

Two things can happen when your the leader and you make a late race stop, the other leaders can follow you in or you can be left to come down pit road and feel like a worm on a hook while everyone else stays out. The Circle Bar crew weren't the only ones concerned about gas mileage and the balance of the lead trucks followed the 14 down pit road. The over the wall guys had another great stop and the Circle Bar team would leave pit road first. As the field realigned for the restart there were 2 trucks that did not stop, which put Crawford starting 3rd. Under green Crawford would make quick work of the second place truck and set his sites on the leader. Passing the leader was only part of the winning equation for Crawford.

Ahead of Crawford was former truck series champion Mike Bliss behind Crawford was short track ace Dennis Setzer and behind him was another truck series champion Ron Hornaday. Passing Bliss is a difficult task in itself, keeping Setzer behind you while you do it is the tricky part. Lap after lap the trio led the field with each driver searching for the right line to accomplish their mission. Bliss to keep the lead, Crawford to take the lead and keep Setzer behind him and Setzer to get past Crawford. On lap 165 Bliss missed getting in the corner just enough for Crawford to see an opening. Setzer saw the same opening and the leaders go 3 wide down the front stretch, Bliss on the outside, Crawford in the middle and Setzer on the bottom with Hornaday tucked in behind. By turn 2 Crawford would hear his favorite words in racing, "CLEAR". Out in the open the Circle Bar Ford would open up a 10-truck length lead over the field. The caution flag would fly 2 more times during the Power Stroke Diesel 200 but with each restart the Circle Bar Ford would power it's way to a comfortable lead.

The win at O'Reilly Raceway Park was Crawford's 5th in the series and the first of the 2006 season. The team continues it's meteoric climb in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, having gone from 14th after St. Louis to 3rd and just 5 points out of 2nd.

Crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland: "We struggled in the first practice session but the guys did a great job in bringing our truck to life. We had some great stops all night and I was really proud of my guys. I tell you, those last restarts were killing me. I knew Rick was going to drive it for all it was worth but every time you bunch the field up anything can happen."

Driver Rick Crawford: "I said in victory lane that I dedicated this win to everyone that's turned a wrench or given Rick Crawford a dollar and I mean that. From my Mom and Dad and my Uncle Buddy all the way to Mr. Mitchell and his family there are so many people that have contributed to Rick Crawford being here today and I can't thank them enough. Cowboy and the guys worked their behinds off today to give me a great truck and it paid off. The race at the end with Setzer, Bliss and Hornaday was incredible. You know the guys you're racing with and you know you can race hard and close like we did tonight. At one point I could smell the green paint, red paint and black paint off their trucks at the same time. We've worked hard to improve our race team and it is really starting to pay off. Now it's time to pick up a guitar in Nashville."