The Frontstretch: David Starr Diary: Thank you to the Troops by David Starr -- Thursday May 31, 2007

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David Starr Diary: Thank you to the Troops

David Starr · Thursday May 31, 2007

 

On Monday, the nation celebrated Memorial Day and honored our troops. As always, NASCAR did a great job of showing its support. Memorial Day is a great weekend to honor the men and women of the Armed Forces - those who are fighting for our freedom so we can race today, and the ones who have fought for us in the past and those who lost their lives so we could be where we are today. I think it's very special that NASCAR embraces our Armed Forces. And not just NASCAR, but everybody in the country. I think it's quite an honor to be a part of a sport that really understands and knows the value of what Memorial Day means to our country. The members of the Navy, Army, Marines, National Guard, Coast Guard, Air Force - they are the real heroes. NASCAR is such a big sport, but as a community - the people involved with the sport from the team owners, the drivers, the team members - it's a family. As a sport, we realize the freedoms we have in being able to entertain the public. There's only one reason we get to do that, and it's because of the Armed Forces.

So thanks to them, its been business as usual for our International MaxxForce Diesel team. Kansas was an awesome race for us. My truck was fast and could run on both the high and the low side. We finished 15th, but the finishing result doesn't reflect how good we were. We were one of the teams that decided to pit on green and somewhere in the middle of green flag stops, the caution came out and put a bunch of us a lap down. We thought we'd get another caution, but the caution never came out and we never could recover from that. Regardless of the finish, performance wise, our Ford F 150 was incredible. A lot of times I was one of the fastest on the track. We were pretty pleased with the progress of the team when we left Kansas.

When we went to Charlotte, we tried a set-up that we had used earlier in the season at Atlanta and California. We decided to stick with a coil binding set-up and it turned out not to be the best thing. The finishing results show that. We've determined as a team that we won't try that set-up again until we take it testing and really get it figured out. We're really looking forward to going to Texas because we plan on using my teammate, Rick Crawford's set-up. His Ford has been very competitive on the 1 ½ mile tracks, finishing second at Kansas, so we're going to leave the shop with the same set-up.

Last week, at Mansfield, our MaxxForce Diesel F 150 was good during practice. When qualifying came around, it was delayed by rain so they dried the track with jet dryers. When you go out early after they dry the track with jet dryers, it usually leaves a bit of an oil film on the track and makes it slick. I went out fifth, and my run was horrible. Everyone else who went out there for awhile after me was terrible, until the racetrack started to get some rubber on it and speeds picked up. We ended up qualifying 23rd, but it was just the luck of the draw.

We had an incredible truck for the whole race and I ran behind Schrader, who finished third, for a long time. I was a little bit better than him, but it was just hard to pass and I wanted to do it cleanly. It was unfortunate that another truck got into me, because we were going to have a good finish. I was hit in the left rear and, unfortunately, got a flat tire and had to stop on the racetrack. I almost spun the thing out and I had to stop so that I would not hit other trucks. When I did that, my truck stalled and NASCAR had to throw the caution. I was then penalized for one lap because NASCAR thought I did it on purpose. Once we got the truck started, we dove on pit road to get tires on the truck. I needed to get the "Lucky Dog" but we were informed by NASCAR that because of the penalty, I was no longer eligible for the free pass and would have to get on the lead lap the hard way. When they dropped the green flag, I was able to jump in behind my teammate and I knew that the caution would come back out soon. At that point, it was obvious that Rick's Power Stroke Diesel was going to win the race, but he had a right front tire going down and in the end, I benefited from my teammate's misfortune. Dennis Setzer was right behind Rick when he slowed, and it kind of slowed Dennis up a little bit so I was able to get around him and get on the tail-end of the lead lap. We only had about six or so laps to go and I passed a bunch of trucks there at the end to finish 19th. Again, like Kansas, our finishing position doesn't show how good our International MaxxForce Diesel F 150 was. We thought we would come out of there with a top five finish, but in the end, that's just good short track racing.

Now we're going to Dover and I love it because we've always run good there. I won the pole in 2005 and this year I want our MaxxForce Diesel team to win the race. Realistically, with a new team, if we can get out of there with a top five finish, that would be like a win for us. However, if I'm capable of running in the top five, I'm capable of winning, so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for good things. It ought to be a good race for the International MaxxForce Diesel team because we've got a lot of momentum. Kansas and Mansfield were good for us and I just think we are getting better and better every week. Hopefully we can finally turn it around and get us our first top 10 or our first top five of the year. I'm looking forward to that! We are gelling as a team and the communication is getting better between us all.

There have been a lot of positives about our season so far, and one of those is that we have been running at the finish of every race, and there has only been one time where we have finished more than a lap down (at Daytona). That says a lot about our Circle Bar racing team. In the seven races so far, nothing has fallen off Rick's truck or mine and the trucks are maintained well. A lot of races are won at the shop, and all of my guys do a great job putting our trucks together. Right now we're just looking for that feel. Working with a new team, working with a crew chief I've never worked with before - we're just trying to get on the same page. I wont say we're 100% there yet, but we're getting closer and closer and we are going in the right direction. I am looking forward to Dover and I think we're going to have a great race. After that, we'll go to my home track at Texas and use Rick's set-up and try to go from there. Every week I feel that our International MaxxForce Diesel team is getting better and better, and I feel like we're going to turn this corner any race now.

Before I end this, I just want to thank all of the fans for hanging in there with us. I know a lot of them have been frustrated, but be frustrated with us as a team because we did come together late in the year. But we have an awesome team, an awesome owner and sponsor with International MaxxForce Diesel, and a great teammate. We will get this turned around, have success and be competitive like our teammate. Hang in there with us. We're coming!

 

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