Rick Crawford has three wins, including one at Martinsville in 2004. Credit: Autostock

Truck preview: Crawford set for 200th start

Driver Rick Crawford showed up at Walt Disney World Speedway more than eight years ago with one simple goal.

Make the race.

Now, on the verge of their series-leading 200th consecutive start, Crawford has loftier goals.

Winning this weekend's American Racing Wheels 200 at California Speedway is tops on the list for the Craftsman Truck Series' leader in career starts.

My, how times have changed for Crawford. He came to the truck series from NASCAR's Southeast Series, racing at the track located in a Disney World parking lot.

Crawford came with one truck, one engine and his short track crew. He was squaring off against 71 other trucks entered in the race Jan. 19, 1997, so getting in the race would be an accomplishment.

He qualified 24th and finished 11th in the Chevy Trucks Challenge.

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"We weren't thinking about making 200 starts," Crawford said. "We were thinking about making one."

Interestingly, every race in Crawford's streak has been made in Tom Mitchell's truck.

Mitchell, who owns the Circle Bar Truck Corral in west Texas, has never been to a race but stays in constant contact with the team.

"When Mr. Mitchell and I came together on this deal, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was still relatively new," Crawford said. "I don't think we had any idea that we would be starting 200 races in this series.

"When we started the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series we had one truck and one engine for the first six races -- so to go 200 in a row is pretty unbelievable."

This weekend, Crawford and his crew honors Mitchell with a special paint scheme and logo.

And you can believe Crawford has more than one truck at his disposal these days.

"It just shows the strength of this Circle Bar Racing team and the effort that Mr. Mitchell has put forth to make this team go for the past eight years," Crawford said. "It has been a total team effort."

Keeping the streak alive has been a testament to Crawford's team - and to Lady Luck. Crawford broke his foot in a crash at Atlanta last year, but fortunately for him the trucks didn't race for a few weeks.

And when he did race, Crawford won.

Crawford bounced back well from a violent accident at Atlanta that briefly sidelined him last spring. Credit: Autostock

"If we had raced the next week it might have ended the streak," Crawford said. "As it turned out, we had a few weeks off before we raced again. I'll never forget that day (at Martinsville). I limped to get in the truck, and I jumped out of it in Victory Lane."

That's one of three victories Crawford has on his resume, including wins at Homestead at Daytona.

He's won more than $3 million during his career and nearly won the championship in 2002, falling 46 points short of champion Mike Bliss.

Last week at Daytona, Crawford dodged another bullet. His No. 14 Ford flipped off Turn 4, but Crawford landed on four wheels and slid through the tri-oval grass. Crawford put the truck back in gear and drove back to pit road.

"Somehow the truck righted itself without hitting anything, and we're ready to go to California," he said.

And he's ready to make that historic 200th consecutive start.