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Rick Crawford (racing driver)

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Rick Crawford
Crawford (right) during a visit to Naval Air Station Sigonella in 2003
BornRichard Hoyt Crawford Jr.
(1958-07-26) July 26, 1958 (age 66)
Mobile, Alabama, U.S.
Achievements1989 Snowball Derby Winner
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 2 years
2012 position139th
Best finish134th (2011)
First race2011 STP 300 (Chicagoland)
Last race2012 Food City 250 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
336 races run over 16 years
2013 position119th
Best finish2nd (2002)
First race1997 Chevy Trucks Challenge (Orlando)
Last race2012 Fred's 250 (Talladega)
First win1998 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 (Homestead)
Last win2006 Power Stroke Diesel 200 (ORP)
Wins Top tens Poles
5 160 6
Statistics current as of February 25, 2013.

Richard Hoyt Crawford Jr. (born July 26, 1958)[1] is an American former professional stock car racing driver and convicted child sex offender. Crawford competed in the Craftsman Truck Series full-time from 1997 to 2009. He is the former promoter and manager of Mobile International Speedway.

Early career

[edit]

Crawford began his racing career as a short-track racer in the southeastern United States. He won the 1989 running of the prestigious annual short track Snowball Derby race.[2] He also won the track championship at Five Flags Speedway in 1981 and 1984, and won the championship at Mobile International Speedway in 1981, 1982, and 1984. After that, he moved to the Slim Jim All Pro Series, where he collected sixty-one top tens, and earned five victories. In 1993 and 1994, he attempted four Winston Cup Series races in the No. 84, but did not qualify for any of them.

Truck Series

[edit]

In 1997, Crawford moved to the Craftsman Truck Series with his Circle Bar team. He qualified for every race, had ten top-tens, a top 5 at Texas Motor Speedway and finished 12th in the points. He was also runner-up to Kenny Irwin Jr. for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. The next season, he picked up his first career win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Unfortunately, the team struggled to find consistency, with only five top-ten finishes and he dropped to eighteenth in the standings. Crawford started 1999 with two consecutive top-tens, but only wound up fourteenth in the points, scoring ten top-tens and four top fives.

In 2001, Crawford finished 8th in points, his first top-ten points finish, he would earn sixteen top tens and ten top fives. The 2002 season would prove to be Crawford's most successful to date, although winless for the season he had 17 top-ten finishes, a career high 12 top five finishes, two poles (at Dover and Phoenix), and finished second in the standings only 46 points behind champion Mike Bliss. 2003 saw him grab his second victory, at the Florida Dodge Dealers 250, in a memorable three-wide race to finish line at Daytona International Speedway. He finished the season seventh in points with 16 top tens and 10 top fives.

In 2004 in his first race after a massive crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in which Tina Gordon and Hank Parker Jr. were also involved, he picked up a win at Martinsville Speedway. He would finish the season with 9 top tens and 4 top fives, and fell to 12th in points. Despite a win at Loudon in 2005, Crawford finished seventeenth in points, mainly due to missing the first race of his Truck career after suffering injuries, ironically while practicing for the Built Ford Tough 225. Boris Said, who was scheduled to be a guest on the Speed Channel's race coverage, was hired to drive the truck. While he wrecked later in the race, he returned to the booth to cover the rest of the race, as the late Neil Bonnett once did at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993 after taking a wild ride into the tri-oval. He did score two poles at Atlanta and Martinsville and had 11 top tens and 3 top fives.

For the 2006 season, Crawford had five top-fives and thirteen top-ten finishes including a win on August 4 at O'Reilly Raceway Park, finishing 9th in the final standings, the win at O’Reilly was his final career victory. Rick had a consistent year in 2007 racking up 11 top 5 finishes, 18 top 10s and a near win at Mansfield Motorsports Park en route to a 5th place standing in the points championship. The eighteen top ten finishes would be a career high to date. In 2008 Crawford put together another solid season with thirteen top tens and seven top fives and a pole at Texas. He would end the season seventh in points. In 2009, now age 50, Crawford would again finish in the top ten in points at 10th. He scored seven top tens and three top fives and would win the pole at Martinsville for the second time in his career.

Crawford would start the 2010 season with a great deal of uncertainty. Longtime sponsor Circle Bar Motel and RV Park would cut back their sponsorship of the team dramatically and Crawford stated that he was unsure how many races they would be able to run without a new sponsor.[3] He would run the first four races of the season with Circle Bar, scoring two top tens. However, prior to Kansas Crawford announced that he would not race for Circle Bar in the #14 truck and would instead race in the Ray Hackett Racing #76 truck with sponsorship from SUPERSEAL Construction Products. This would be the first race in his record 327 Camping World Truck Series starts that he would not be in the #14 and would not be racing under Circle Bar Racing. Crawford would qualify for that race 15th and finish 31st after an accident going for the lead. In August, Crawford would take yet another unfamiliar step in his career as he would join forces with Tagsby Racing to race in the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway. This would be the first race in his career that he would race in a Chevrolet truck. Crawford would earn his 3rd top ten finish in 6 races with an 8th-place finish in the race. He ran in two more races with Tagsby to close out the season.

Crawford attempted to race with Tagsby Racing and make his 12th consecutive start in the season opening race at Daytona in 2011, but failed to qualify. Before 2011, Crawford was one of only 3 drivers to compete in all Camping World Truck Series races at Daytona.

Crawford is a former manager and promoter of Mobile International Raceway, and attempted the 2012 season-opening race at Daytona with Tagsby Racing.[4] He would race with Mike Harmon Racing's 74 truck at Martinsville, finishing last. He would race two more races with Tagsby Racing in 2012 at Texas and Chicagoland, finishing 29th and 11th respectively. At Talladega later that year, he raced for BRG Motorsports. This was the first time he would race in a Toyota truck. In 2013, he attempted Daytona with MAKE Motorsports, but failed to qualify. After that, Crawford would stop racing for good.

He raced in 210 consecutive races before missing the 2005 Built Ford Tough 225 race at Kentucky due to injuries sustained from a hard crash in practice. He had not missed a race since that date until failing to qualify at Daytona in February 2011. Prior to 2011, Crawford was one of the few drivers in the history of the sport with more than 50 starts who has never raced in any major series in NASCAR other than the Truck Series. However, that statistic was ended in 2011, when Crawford made his Nationwide Series debut driving for Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing at Chicagoland Speedway. He would then race his second and last Nationwide Series race with Mike Harmon Racing at Bristol in 2012.

Post-racing career

[edit]

In March 2011 Crawford entered a multi-year contract to be the promoter and manager at Mobile International Speedway, his home track, in Irvington (Mobile), Alabama.

In March 2014 it was announced that Crawford would serve as crew chief for Team Stange Racing and driver Maryeve Dufault in the ARCA Racing Series.[5]

2018 arrest

[edit]

On March 1, 2018, Crawford was arrested in Florida;[6] he was charged for "attempted enticement of a minor," after being caught in an online undercover sting operation involving a Seminole County, Florida Sheriff's deputy working for an FBI sex crimes task force posing as a father offering commercial sexual exploitation of his nonexistent 12 year old daughter in exchange for cash.[7][8] Crawford later pled not guilty to the charge and was released into the custody of his family until his trial.[9] Crawford was convicted by a jury on August 30, 2018.[10] On November 26, 2018, Crawford was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in federal prison, a sentence that was later upheld on appeal in 2020.[11]

Motorsports career results

[edit]

NASCAR

[edit]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

[edit]
NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1993 Circle Bar Racing 84 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL
DNQ
DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT
DNQ
DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL
DNQ
NA - [12]
1994 DAY
Wth
CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL NA - [13]
Daytona 500
[edit]
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1994 Circle Bar Racing Ford Wth

Nationwide Series

[edit]
NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 NNSC Pts Ref
2011 JJC Racing 13 Ford DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX TAL NSH RCH DAR DOV IOW CLT CHI
36
MCH ROA DAY KEN NHA NSH IRP IOW GLN CGV BRI ATL RCH CHI DOV KAN CLT TEX PHO HOM 134th 01 [14]
2012 Mike Harmon Racing 74 Chevy DAY PHO LVS BRI CAL TEX RCH TAL DAR IOW CLT DOV MCH ROA KEN DAY NHA CHI IND IOW GLN CGV BRI
36
ATL RCH CHI KEN DOV CLT KAN TEX PHO HOM 139th 01 [15]

Camping World Truck Series

[edit]
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 NCWTC Pts Ref
1997 Circle Bar Racing 14 Ford WDW
11
TUS
12
HOM
18
PHO
21
POR
8
EVG
23
I70
15
NHA
6
TEX
3
BRI
6
NZH
18
MLW
34
LVL
16
CNS
6
HPT
8
IRP
13
FLM
15
NSV
8
GLN
14
RCH
34
MAR
24
SON
25
MMR
6
CAL
10
PHO
13
LVS
10
12th 3149 [16]
1998 WDW
29
HOM
1
PHO
5
POR
27
EVG
21
I70
18
GLN
14
TEX
26
BRI
38
MLW
26
NZH
29
CAL
15
PPR
11
IRP
34
NHA
22
FLM
15
NSV
3
HPT
15
LVL
25
RCH
11
MEM
5
GTY
7
MAR
15
SON
29
MMR
27
PHO
16
LVS
14
18th 2956 [17]
1999 HOM
8
PHO
6
EVG
12
MMR
22
MAR
33
MEM
22
PPR
8
I70
27
BRI
21
TEX
12
PIR
16
GLN
10
MLW
3
NSV
14
NZH
17
MCH
29
NHA
5
IRP
12
GTY
9
HPT
4
RCH
12
LVS
8
LVL
7
TEX
23
CAL
35
14th 3018 [18]
2000 DAY
34
HOM
7
PHO
10
MMR
9
MAR
15
PIR
5
GTY
12
MEM
6
PPR
13
EVG
14
TEX
8
KEN
10
GLN
9
MLW
14
NHA
13
NZH
13
MCH
7
IRP
31
NSV
10
CIC
28
RCH
16
DOV
3
TEX
6
CAL
12
11th 3053 [19]
2001 DAY
10
HOM
8
MMR
19
MAR
7
GTY
4
DAR
4
PPR
9
DOV
14*
TEX
20
MEM
16
MLW
25
KAN
8
KEN
27
NHA
27
IRP
6
NSH
3
CIC
5*
NZH
4
RCH
5
SBO
24
TEX
2
LVS
5
PHO
3
CAL
2*
8th 3320 [20]
2002 DAY
24
DAR
5
MAR
3
GTY
4
PPR
6
DOV
3
TEX
4
MEM
9
MLW
14
KAN
12*
KEN
4
NHA
17
MCH
9
IRP
11
NSH
2
RCH
4
TEX
4*
SBO
3
LVS
6
CAL
5
PHO
3
HOM
7
2nd 3313 [21]
2003 DAY
1*
DAR
7
MMR
6
MAR
6
CLT
3
DOV
8*
TEX
14
MEM
11
MLW
3
KAN
23
KEN
11
GTW
5
MCH
12
IRP
14
NSH
3
BRI
3
RCH
6
NHA
18
CAL
4
LVS
36
SBO
5
TEX
9
MAR
4
PHO
11
HOM
2
7th 3578 [22]
2004 DAY
4
ATL
34
MAR
1
MFD
7
CLT
7
DOV
2
TEX
15
MEM
19
MLW
9
KAN
3
KEN
16
GTW
25
MCH
32
IRP
8
NSH
24
BRI
17
RCH
24
NHA
25
LVS
11
CAL
12
TEX
7
MAR
16
PHO
11
DAR
18
HOM
28
12th 3030 [23]
2005 DAY
36
CAL
14
ATL
29*
MAR
21
GTY
5
MFD
6
CLT
25
DOV
11
TEX
19
MCH
6
MLW
8
KAN
10
KEN
INQ
MEM
11
IRP
6
NSH
10
BRI
21
RCH
28
NHA
1
LVS
7
MAR
16
ATL
32
TEX
8
PHO
4
HOM
27
16th 2917 [24]
2006 DAY
8
CAL
8
ATL
10
MAR
26
GTY
24
CLT
11
MFD
12
DOV
8
TEX
3
MCH
6
MLW
9
KAN
2
KEN
2
MEM
13
IRP
1*
NSH
28
BRI
13
NHA
7
LVS
14
TAL
15
MAR
9
ATL
5
TEX
33
PHO
33
HOM
15
9th 3252 [25]
2007 DAY
10
CAL
9
ATL
4
MAR
3
KAN
2
CLT
10
MFD
23*
DOV
23
TEX
3
MCH
6
MLW
5
MEM
28
KEN
30
IRP
4
NSH
6
BRI
5
GTW
11
NHA
6
LVS
9
TAL
2
MAR
5
ATL
12
TEX
5
PHO
12
HOM
3
5th 3523 [26]
2008 DAY
5
CAL
14
ATL
11
MAR
3
KAN
9
CLT
5
MFD
13
DOV
9
TEX
21
MCH
11
MLW
8
MEM
4
KEN
14
IRP
12
NSH
23
BRI
5
GTW
8
NHA
5
LVS
6
TAL
28
MAR
3
ATL
12
TEX
11
PHO
9
HOM
33
7th 3315 [27]
2009 DAY
21
CAL
14
ATL
16
MAR
5
KAN
14
CLT
11
DOV
19
TEX
5
MCH
12
MLW
12
MEM
11
KEN
17
IRP
11
NSH
7
BRI
19
CHI
4
IOW
17
GTW
10
NHA
10
LVS
11
MAR
15
TAL
21
TEX
10
PHO
14
HOM
17
10th 3161 [28]
2010 DAY
28
ATL
9
MAR
19
NSH
10
32nd 848 [29]
Ray Hackett Racing 76 Ford KAN
31
DOV CLT TEX MCH IOW GTY IRP POC NSH DAR BRI
Tagsby Racing 73 Chevy CHI
8
KEN NHA LVS
32
MAR TAL TEX
17
PHO HOM
2011 DAY
DNQ
PHO
DNQ
DAR MAR NSH DOV CLT KAN TEX KEN IOW NSH IRP POC MCH BRI ATL CHI NHA KEN LVS TAL MAR TEX
24
HOM 66th 20 [30]
2012 DAY
25
TEX
29
KEN IOW CHI
11
POC MCH BRI ATL IOW KEN LVS 41st 96 [31]
Mike Harmon Racing 74 Chevy MAR
36
CAR KAN CLT DOV
BRG Motorsports 20 Toyota TAL
23
MAR TEX PHO HOM
2013 MAKE Motorsports 50 Chevy DAY
DNQ
MAR CAR KAN CLT DOV TEX KEN IOW ELD POC MCH BRI MSP IOW CHI LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM NA - [32]
- Qualified but replaced by Boris Said

Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1

[edit]
NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - Elite 1 results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NWES Pts Ref
2013 Scorpus Racing 19 Chevy NOG NOG DIJ DIJ BRH BRH TOU
17
TOU
7
MNZ MNZ BUG BUG 33rd - [33]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rick Crawford Career Statistics
  2. ^ "Snowball Derby Central". Third Turn. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-04-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Adamcyzk, Jay (February 4, 2012). "Camping World Truck Series". Jayski' Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved 2012-02-04.
  5. ^ "Crawford Named Dufault's ARCA Crew Chief". National Speed Sport News. March 10, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
  6. ^ "Seminole Sheriff's Office". March 1, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  7. ^ Jordan, Jerry (March 1, 2018). "Former truck series driver Rick Crawford busted for attempted child enticement". KickinTheTires.net. Kickin' the Tires. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  8. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (March 5, 2018). "Former Truck series driver Rick Crawford arrested in child sex sting". nascar.nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  9. ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (March 8, 2018). "Former driver Rick Crawford to be released into home confinement in child sex case". nascar.nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  10. ^ Pockrass, Bob (August 30, 2018). "Ex-driver Crawford found guilty of enticing minor". ESPN.
  11. ^ McFadin, Daniel (November 26, 2018). "Rick Crawford sentenced to 130 months in attempted enticement of a minor case". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "Rick Crawford – 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  13. ^ "Rick Crawford – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  14. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  15. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  16. ^ "Rick Crawford – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  17. ^ "Rick Crawford – 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  18. ^ "Rick Crawford – 1999 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  19. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  20. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  21. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  22. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  23. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  24. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  25. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  26. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  27. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  28. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  29. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  30. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  31. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  32. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  33. ^ "Rick Crawford – 2013 Whelen Euro Elite 1 Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2023.
[edit]
Achievements
Preceded by Snowball Derby Winner
1989
Succeeded by