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Rick Crawford (racing driver)

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This article is about the NASCAR driver. For the Arkansas politician, see Rick Crawford (politician). For the American endurance sports coach, see Rick Crawford (cycling).
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

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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

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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

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NASCAR

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(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

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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
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