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RICK CRAWFORD KEPT
ALIVE TRADITION OF SURPRISE WINNERS IN 1998 FLORIDA DODGE DEALERS 400
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (March 9, 1999) -- Pleasant Rick Crawford, racer from Mobile, Ala., helped
nurture a budding NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series tradition at Miami-Dade Homestead
Motorsports Complex in the 1998 Florida Dodge Dealers 400.
The tradition, at least in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series, is to expect the
unexpected. Sure, Ron Hornaday and Jack Sprague are the favorites, and Mike Bliss, Jimmy
Hensley and Stacy Compton are boys to watch. But keep an eye out for that dark horse, the
fellow who plays the right card at exactly the right time.
This year's Florida Dodge Dealers 400 on March 20 is the fourth NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series event at Homestead, and each of the first three brought out a surprise
winner. Remember Dave Rezendes, who pulled a rabbit out of the hat for owner Geoffrey
Bodine in 1996? How about Kenny Irwin, a lightly regarded rookie, who landed his first
NASCAR trophy here in 1997? Last year, Lady Luck favored Crawford, former NASCAR Slim Jim
All-Pro contender now holding a steady job with Tom Mitchell's Circle Bar team.
Crawford, who had finished second to Irwin for 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
rookie of the year, had led only 20 laps in 28 previous starts.
With a shrewd spring change during the halftime break, Crawford and crew found the handle
on their truck. He took the lead during a caution that saw front-runners Rick Carelli and
Andy Houston pass the pace truck, costing each of them a lap.
Then he had to hang on as defending series champ Jack Sprague looked high, low, up
the side, wheel-to-wheel, trying to find a way to take the lead.
"It was a unique situation leading the race with 30 laps to go," Crawford
remembers with a grin. "I knew what I had under me, and that Circle Bar Ford was
going to get wider and wider if it had to. I knew I was running the line Jack needed. We
almost rubbed one time. It was a deal where he had to back out of it, and I gained some
ground, some ground he couldn't catch up."
Sprague lost a cylinder with five laps to go, ending what could have been a fight
to the bitter end. Crawford thus came away with his first, and so far only, NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series victory.
Will history repeat itself in 1999?
Sooner or later, Hornaday, Sprague or one of the other series' veteran
front-runners will break the jinx and take the left-hand turn into Victory Lane at
Homestead. But until then, the many up-and-coming drivers in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series know they have history on their side in the Florida Dodge Dealers 400.
For ticket information, call (305) 230-7223, or visit the Speedway's official web
site, www.racemiami.com. |
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