After an 11-race hiatus, Rick Crawford blew into the windy city for the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway hungry for a new start in the series that he owns every longevity record. Making his first start for Tagsby Racing in a Superseal sponsored Chevy, Crawford started 21st and charged his way to an eighth-place finish.
The run to the front earned Crawford, crew chief Travis Sharpe and their Tagsby Racing team the O'Reilly Auto Parts Position Improvement Award.
Every time Crawford slides behinds the wheel of a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series truck he sets a record and after 327 career starts, Crawford left Kansas Speedway in April looking for a ride for the first time in his Truck Series career. Without a ride, Crawford has been mentoring new drivers in the Truck Series and working on getting back in the drivers seat. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, an 11-race absence from the Truck Series had Crawford ready to don a gas soaked fire suit and walk through hell to get to his next ride.
With sponsorship from Superseal Construction Products and a truck from Oklahoma based Tagsby Racing Crawford was reteamed with crew chief Travis Sharpe for the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway. With a new team and a new truck the team spent the practice sessions working the bugs out of their Chevy Silverado and preparing for the race.
With a concentration on the race setup the team had little time to work on qualifying and Crawford time his Chevy into the 21st position. With the drop of the green flag Crawford and his Supereseal Silverado were marching to the front and before the halfway point Crawford was in the top 10. Crawford's Chevy was good on the short run and then tightened up on the long run, the longer the run the tighter the Silverado.
With each stop crew chief Travis Sharpe and the Tagsby Team improved the handling of Crawford's Chevy. The team improved the length of a good handling truck but the Superseal Chevy continued to get tight on the long runs. A late caution played into the team's hands and a 3-lap shootout was just what Crawford needed. With a cool set of tires Crawford charged his Superseal Chevy from 12th to 8th in the final laps.
Rick Crawford: "You don't know how much you miss something until you don't have it anymore. I really appreciate Superseal and Tagsby giving me the opportunity to drive their truck. Travis Sharpe is the best kept secret in the Truck Series garage. I've driven 2 of his trucks with 2 different teams and both were fun to drive. Our Chevy Silverado was good on the short run and got tighter as the run went on. I'd love to take what we learned tonight and run this Chevy again in Kentucky."
Crawford continues to work on a full-time ride in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
