Circle Bar Racing

Circle Bar Racing
Owner(s)	Tom Mitchell
Base	North Carolina
Series	Craftsman Truck Series
Race drivers	Rick Crawford ; David Starr ; Brendan Gaughan ; James Buescher
Sponsors	Circle Bar Motel & RV Park; Ford ; Navistar International
Manufacturer	Ford
Opened	1978
Closed	2010
Career
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	5

Last updated December 07, 2024

Circle Bar Racing was an auto racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 1997 to 2010. The team was most notable for its relationship with Ford Motor Company as well as its long-time driver, Rick Crawford.

Beginnings

Although Mitchell's team has found its home in NASCAR, the team originated in 1978 with Circle Bar sponsoring Chet Fillip in late models. The team officially started out as Circle Bar Auto Racing Inc., with Fillip as their driver. The team qualified for the 1982 Indianapolis 500, finishing 24th in a Gurney Eagle with a Cosworth power plant. Fillip also qualified for the 1983 Indianapolis 500 before DNQ-ing for the 1985 Indy 500 with a Lola chassis. The next week at Milwaukee, the team finished 10th with Fillip. CBR made its NASCAR debut with Fillip in 1985, in the No. 31 Circle Bar Truck Corral Ford at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Fillip ran sixteen races for Mitchell in 1986, and had a best finish of twelfth in the No. 81. At the end of the year, Mitchell sold his equipment to Fillip. Afterwards, Circle Bar sponsored the late model efforts of John Kelly in 1989,^[1] with the shop based in San Antonio, Texas. Moving to Ozona, the team picked up the championship in 1990. The next year, CBR moved to the All-Pro Series with Kelly, but Alabama native Rick Crawford took his place in 1992. Together, they attempted the 1993 Coca-Cola 600, but failed to qualify. Using Circle Bar's equipment, Crawford had great success in the All-Pro Series, beginning a partnership between Mitchell and Crawford to race in the series until 1996.

Camping World Truck Series

No. 10 Truck History

Circle Bar Racing fielded a second truck for the first time in 1997, when Tammy Jo Kirk drove the No. 74 at Fontana, as a start-and-park "field filler"; she finished 35th, parking after ten laps. The next attempt came in 2004, when Greg Biffle drove the No. 44 Ford Racing truck to an eighth-place finish at the Ford 200.

CBR added on the No. 10 Truck in 2007, with David Starr behind the wheel. Picking up both Navistar International sponsorship and the owners points of ppc Racing's old Truck Series team, the team had a moderately successful year, finishing 10th in points in their first year. Starr left at the end of the season to return to Red Horse Racing. Brendan Gaughan took over the No. 10 truck in 2008, leaving his defunct family owned team South Point Racing. Gaughan earned two top fives and five top tens and finished 15th in points. At the end of the season, Gaughan departed the team, and rookie driver James Buescher was signed to the 10 truck full-time in 2009 with Jamie Jones as his crew chief. Buescher had three top-tens and a fourteenth-place points finish but departed the team as well at the end of the year. The team was eventually sold to Jennifer Jo Cobb.

Truck No. 10 results

Year	Driver	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	Owners	Pts
1997	Tammy Jo Kirk	74	Ford	WDW	TUS	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	I70	NHA	TEX	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	NSV	GLN	RCH	MAR	SON	MMR	CAL 35	PHO	LVS	N/A	-
2004	Greg Biffle	44	Ford	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM 8		47th	216
2007	David Starr	10	Ford	DAY 20	CAL 28	ATL 22	MAR 11	KAN 15	CLT 23	MFD 19	DOV 25	TEX 5	MCH 13	MLW 10	MEM 13	KEN 12	IRP 17	NSH 4	BRI 17	GTW 22	NHA 14	LVS 14	TAL 11	MAR 4	ATL 15	TEX 19	PHO 36	HOM 6		12th	2921
2008	Brendan Gaughan			DAY 34	CAL 12	ATL 15	MAR 11	KAN 6	CLT 3	MFD 30	DOV 20	TEX 15	MCH 5	MLW 16	MEM 22	KEN 28	IRP 6	NSH 24	BRI 13	GTW 21	NHA 20	LVS 20	TAL 20	MAR 22	ATL 16	TEX 16	PHO 10	HOM 18		18th	2840
2009	James Buescher			DAY 25	CAL 13	ATL 14	MAR 11	KAN 12	CLT 12	DOV 24	TEX 18	MCH 33	MLW 5	MEM 20	KEN 8	IRP 6	NSH 17	BRI 13	CHI 20	IOW 14	GTW 23	NHA 17	LVS 13	MAR 11	TAL 15	TEX 17	PHO 23	HOM 18		17th	2884

No. 14 Truck History

In 1997, CBR focused its operations towards NASCAR, specifically its all-new Craftsman Truck Series. Continuing his partnership with Crawford and Ford, Mitchell debuted the No. 14 Ford at the Chevy Trucks Challenge in 1997 with Circle Bar sponsoring. Crawford made every race and finished 12th in points, runner up to Kenny Irwin Jr. for Rookie of the Year. 1998 brought the team's first win at Homestead Miami Speedway, but inconsistency put them at 18th in points. Crawford would not win for the next four years, but had two top ten points finishes in between, including a runner-up points finish to Mike Bliss in 2002. Crawford would take his second, and arguably biggest win at the season opening Florida Dodge Dealers 250, with a last lap pass on Travis Kvapil. The win propelled him to a seventh-place points finish. Rick would win again in 2004 at Martinsville, but dropped to twelfth in points. The 2005 season was a mixed bag, as the team won again at Loudon, but Crawford was forced to miss the first race of his career due to a crash during qualifying at Kentucky Speedway.^[2] Road racer Boris Said took his place, but was taken out in an early wreck. Rick won again at ORP in 2006 ^[3] and finished ninth in points. Although the 2007 season was a winless one for the No. 14 team, they added on a second truck with David Starr who brought along sponsorship from Navistar International for both trucks. The added equipment resulted in a near win at Mansfield Motorsports Park and a fifth-place points finish for Crawford. Crawford slipped to seventh in points in 2008, and tenth in 2009 with twenty top-tens in between both seasons. Longtime crew chief Kevin "Cowboy" Starland left Circle Bar after 2009 for Panhandle Motorsports and International departed both the No. 10 and the No. 14 for Randy Moss Motorsports. Despite the lack of sponsorship, Circle Bar gained a new crew chief in Blake Bainbridge and ran the first four races of the season before having to release Crawford before Kansas and having to wait on additional sponsorship to continue running the season. The team has not been heard from since. Team owner Tom Mitchell died in August 2014 at age 83. ^[4]

Truck No. 14 results

Year	Driver	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	Owners	Pts
1997	Rick Crawford	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
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	20th	2956
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			15th	3018
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
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
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
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
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			13th	3030
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	2975
2005	Boris Said															KEN 35															16th	2975
2006	Rick Crawford			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			10th	3252
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
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			8th	3315
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			12th	3161
2010				DAY 28	ATL 9	MAR 19	NSH 10	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTY	IRP	POC	NSH	DAR	BRI	CHI	KEN	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM			42nd	457

Related Research Articles

Casey James Mears is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series including 15 seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super Trucks. A former winner of the Coca-Cola 600, Mears is a member of the Mears racing family as the nephew of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears and the son of IndyCar and off-road veteran Roger Mears. He also works as a NASCAR analyst for Fox Sports 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Travis Kvapil</span> American racing driver (born 1976)

Travis Wade Kvapil is an American professional stock car driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Silverado for Beaver Motorsports.

Floyd Anthony Raines is a retired American professional stock car racing driver. He is a former National Touring Series champion in the American Speed Association and 1999 Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He is currently the spotter for the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Ryan Preece.

Richard Hoyt Crawford Jr. 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.

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team began running part-time in 2004 as Means-Jenkins Motorsports under a partnership with Jimmy Means and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, with Jenkins becoming the full team owner in 2005. In the Cup Series, FRM fields three Ford Mustang Dark Horse teams full-time: the No. 34 for Todd Gilliland, the No. TBA for Noah Gragson, and the No. TBA for TBA. In the Truck Series, they field the No. 38 Ford F-Series for Layne Riggs.

Premium Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team last fielded the No. 15 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 LE full-time for Brennan Poole, and the No. 27 Camaro part-time for Reed Sorenson.

Ultra Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Craftsman Truck Series racing team. Jim Smith helped start the team and the Craftsman Truck Series. It ran full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series from 1995 to 2005, earning 31 series wins and a championship in 2005 with Ted Musgrave. Early in 2006, Ultra announced that they would close up shop after a fallout with Ford.

Billy Ballew Motorsports was a team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. They were formed in 1996 by Georgia businessman Billy Ballew. The team's car numbers are 09, 15, and 51.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series</span> Ninth season of third-tier NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was the ninth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season included twenty-five races, beginning with the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Steve Coulter won the Owners' Championship, while Travis Kvapil won the Drivers' Championship during the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dodge won the Manufacturers' Championship with 179 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SS-Green Light Racing</span> American stock car racing team

SS-Green Light Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro SS for TBA and the No. 14 full-time for multiple drivers. In the ARCA Menards Series, the team fields the No. 08 Ford Fusion part-time for TBA. The team has a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing for their Camaros.

Germain Racing was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. It was owned by Bob Germain, whose family owns many car dealerships across the United States as Germain Motor Company. The team last fielded the No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE full-time for Ty Dillon. It previously fielded the No. 03, No. 9, No. 30, No. 62 and No. 77 Toyota Tundras in the Camping World Truck Series and the No. 7 and No. 15 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Previously, the team had been affiliated with Arnold Motorsports, a former Cup Series team, until the 2005 season as Germain-Arnold Racing.

James Howard Buescher is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series</span> Auto racing season

The 2011 NASCAR Nationwide Series was the 30th season of the NASCAR Nationwide Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season included thirty-four races, beginning with the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. During the 2010 season, NASCAR announced a few notable calendar changes, including race additions at Iowa Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway, and the removal of Gateway International Raceway from the schedule. Jack Roush won the Owners' Championship, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of Roush Fenway Racing won the Drivers' Championship with a second-place finish at the final race of the season. Ford won the Manufacturers' Championship with 212 points.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series</span> 17th season of third-tier NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the seventeenth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season included twenty-five races, beginning with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. During the 2010 season, NASCAR announced a few notable calendar changes, including a race addition at Kentucky Speedway and the removal of Gateway International Raceway from the schedule. DeLana Harvick won the owners' championship, while Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing won the drivers' championship with a tenth-place finish at the final race of the season. Chevrolet won the manufacturers' championship with 193 points.

Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), formerly Turner Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, the Camping World Truck Series, the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Racing Series. The team was based in Mooresville, North Carolina co-owned by Texas businessman Steve Turner and North Carolina businessman Harry Scott Jr. The team fielded cars utilizing Hendrick Motorsports engines. Co-owner Scott also owned the unaffiliated Sprint Cup Series team HScott Motorsports.

The 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the eighteenth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season was contested over twenty-two races, beginning with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NASCAR announced some changes, including the removal of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, and Lucas Oil Raceway from the schedule, and moving the Phoenix race back to its traditional fall date. In addition, Rockingham Speedway was added to the schedule, the first time NASCAR has raced at Rockingham since 2004. James Buescher of Turner Motorsports claimed his first championship with a 13th-place finish in the season finale. Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's Championship with 166 points and 12 wins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series</span> 19th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season

The 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the nineteenth season of the Camping World Truck Series, the third highest stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in North America. The season was contested over twenty-two races, beginning with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford EcoBoost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Matt Crafton of ThorSport Racing claimed his first championship with only one finish outside the top twenty and by completing every lap of the season. Toyota won the year's Manufacturers' Championship, while Kyle Busch Motorsports won the Owners' Championship, with its No. 51 entry.

The 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 35th season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started at Daytona International Speedway on February 20 and ended at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19. Daniel Suárez of Joe Gibbs Racing won the championship, becoming the first non-American to win a title in NASCAR's top 3 divisions.

Zane Michael Smith is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in an alliance with Trackhouse Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. He won the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship driving for Front Row Motorsports.

Roush Fenway Racing's Xfinity Series operation began in 1992 with the No. 60 driven by Mark Martin. The No. 60 team has been dominant throughout its history, amassing many wins with Martin; three driver's championships with Greg Biffle in 2002, Carl Edwards in 2007, and Chris Buescher in 2015; and an owner's championship with Edwards in 2011. The No. 6 team won back-to-back driver's championships in 2011 & 2012 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Following the departures of Ryan Reed, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric, Roush's Xfinity program was closed following the 2018 season.

References

↑ Pate, Josh (April 22, 2009). "Family-like bond of loyalty, trust keeps Circle Bar going" . Retrieved November 4, 2012.
↑ "Truck driver released after qualifying crash". Sun Journal_(Lewiston,_Maine). July 10, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
↑ "Former NASCAR Truck driver Rick Crawford arrested in Florida". Motorsport.com. March 3, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
↑ "Mitchell, Former Race Team Owner, Dies". Speed Sport. August 18, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Pate, Josh (April 22, 2009). "Family-like bond of loyalty, trust keeps Circle Bar going" . Retrieved November 4, 2012.

[2] "Truck driver released after qualifying crash". Sun Journal_(Lewiston,_Maine). July 10, 2005. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

[3] "Former NASCAR Truck driver Rick Crawford arrested in Florida". Motorsport.com. March 3, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

[4] "Mitchell, Former Race Team Owner, Dies". Speed Sport. August 18, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2019.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]