The No. 14 Circle Bar Ford F-150 at Daytona. (David M. Vaughn Photo)

Instead of spending the off-season working with crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland on improving their Circle Bar Ford F-150, Rick Crawford spent the off-season making a deal. A blockbuster deal, that included a second team for Circle Bar Racing with sponsorship from International Truck and Engine. Months of hard work paid off on January 9th, when Circle Bar Racing announced a second team sponsored by MaxxForce International Diesel Engines driven by David Starr and sponsorship of Crawford's Circle Bar machine from Power Stroke Diesel. The announcement came 5 weeks later than Crawford had hoped and with less than 5 weeks until the Silverado HD 250 in Daytona. The Circle Bar shop had been busy but business was picking up.

As the team manager for Circle Bar Racing the addition of the second team consumed Crawford's schedule. In 5 weeks Crawford handled the addition of the second team, team members and equipment, the buyout of PPC Racing, tested twice and was named to the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame. Add to this the media frenzy created by the announcement and Crawford was looking forward to the peace of his office, the cab of his Circle Bar Power Stroke Diesel Ford F-150.

For Crawford the first practice of the 2007 season could not come soon enough. Months of hard work by his team was ready to be put to the test. The first practice session followed the unveiling of his new Power Stroke Diesel paint scheme in the Fan Zone at Daytona International speedway.  With a nasty cross wind whipping across turns 3 and 4 the team was testing the changes made to their Ford F-150 after the 2 day test a few weeks before. Unsatisfied with the test the team completely remade their Ford in preparation for a return to victory lane in Daytona. The first practice confirmed the changes made in the shop had moved the Power Stroke team in the right direction. On Thursday, crew chief, Kevin "Cowboy" Starland, took the gloves off for the final practice and the F-150 responded by posting a top 5 time on the speed chart. While the team was hitting on all cylinders Crawford was not. After the morning practice Crawford made a trip to the infield care center to help control the flu symptoms that had been building all day. Two IV bags later, Crawford was set to qualify. With a solid practice under their belts the Circle Bar team made ready for qualifying with an eye on the draft versus qualifying. Crawford posted a 13th place qualifying time, while rookie and fellow Mobile native Cale Gale posted a 14th place starting position making an all Mobile 7th row for the Chevy Silverado HD 250. After qualifying, Crawford made a return trip to infield care for 2 more IV bags to hold him to race day.

Making "Bold Moves" at Daytona has become a way of life for Crawford and his Circle Bar team and the 2007 running of the 250-mile race would be no different. From the drop of the green flag the ailing Crawford was making "Bold Moves", in the first lap he moved from 13th to 6th. By lap 2 he was 4th and by lap 3 he was 2nd.  A fast Ford F-150 has a way of curing what ails you. An early caution had Cowboy working a pit strategy to pick up the teams second Daytona victory by calling Crawford to pit road for fuel only. On lap 26 the caution flag flew again, this time Cowboy called for 4 fresh Goodyears and a full load of Sunoco fuel. The over the wall gang was on the money, the Power Stroke team held serve on pit road, in second out second. Back under green Crawford was looking for the top spot and was hung out of the draft dropping back to 9th. Back on the march Crawford wheeled his Ford F-150 from 9th back to 2nd in less than 10 laps. The caution flag flew again on lap 50 and the over the wall crew had another solid stop keeping the Power Stroke team up front. Back under green Crawford looked for the lead again and again was hung out getting dropped back to 7th. Within 4 laps the Circle Bar machine was back up to 2nd.  With another caution Cowboy was playing the strategy game again, calling for a fuel only stop and saving his last set of Goodyears for a final stop. The over the wall gang held serve again returning Crawford to the track in the 2nd spot. Back under green Crawford was not content with 2nd and made another move for the lead. Drafting partners for the former Daytona winner were hard to find and Crawford dropped back to 12th. Now mired in traffic Crawford struggled to get his F-150 back to the front. On lap 80, Kelly Bires got turned head on into the front stretch wall in front of Crawford. The move to avoid Bires cost Crawford moving him back to 19th.  With less than 20 to go Cowboy goes all in and calls for 4 fresh Goodyears. With the green flag back in the air Crawford is trapped in heavy traffic and the going is slow. Another caution would leave the field taking the final green flag with 7 to go. A dash for the cash, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series style. Seven laps of wild racing ensued, Crawford slicing and dicing through traffic with no drafting help. When the checkered flag flew Crawford had moved from 19th back up to 10th. Not a bad start to the 2007 season but far short of what the team was looking for.

Crew Chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland: "I wasn't happy with our finish but I was happy with the effort our team made. We had a fast truck and the over the wall guys had solid stops all night keeping us in the hunt. Even with as bad as he felt Rick was up on the wheel all night and he's fun to watch when we give him a good truck."

Rick Crawford: "My hat's off to a great truck from the Circle Bar Racing guys. Our Power Stroke Diesel Ford by International ran up front all night long. I think the first 60 or 70 laps, we had a position of about two on the race track. We were sort of boxed in at the end, but we made some bold moves with our Ford F-Series pickup. You always need to leave Daytona with some kind of insurance for the rest of the season. This is the toughest race and this is the most important race, and just like my crew chief Kevin Starland told me - he made some great calls on the pit box - he said, 'We've got to finish this race first in order to win, but you have to finish this race to carry it on to California.' That's why we're here - we're here to win a championship."