From Truckseries.com

A couple of weeks off gave David Starr and his International MaxxForce Diesel team an opportunity to put the finishing touches on Circle Bar Racings newest chassis, CB 23. Every Circle Bar Chassis takes on a life of its own and is normally nicknamed after a race or two, however, CB 23 was labeled "Old Blue" before it ever left the Circle Bar shop.

"Old Blue" is a name normally associated with a trusted blue tick hound that is always in the hunt, but CB-23 picked up "Old Blue" in the paint department of the Circle Bar shop. For years the Circle Bar paint department painted each truck competition blue before it left the shop, in fact "everything" was painted competition blue. Old habits are hard to break and when CB-23 was rolled to the paint booth, the painters painted it competition blue, which is a different shade of blue than International MaxxForce Diesel blue. When it was rolled out of the paint booth they soon realized that the truck was the old blue not the new blue and from that point forward CB-23 became "Old Blue".

With a week off between races Dennis Connor loaded up "Old Blue" and his International MaxxForce Diesel team for a daylong test at Caraway Speedway, a local short track. A days worth of testing on the teams newest F-150 was just what the Doctor ordered for a team that had struggled in its first three outings. Connor, Starr and team spent a day putting "Old Blue" through its paces. As the defending winner of the Kroger 250 at Martinsville, Starr knew the feel he was looking for and Connor and crew had found it with "Old Blue". A heavy dose of media and sponsor commitments followed the test and by the time the team rolled into Martinsville, Starr was ready to strap into his Ford F-150 and get down to business. Off the trailer "Old Blue" was solid but not as fast as the team had expected. After their experiences in the last 2 races of trying to hit a home run, the team worked on tweaking what they had. Trying to pick up speed, the team freed up "Old Blue" for qualifying and went just a tick too far qualifying in the 23rd position.

From the drop of the green flag "Old Blue" was loose and looking for some bite off the corners. Starr wrestled "Old Blue" around NASCAR's oldest short track waiting for the pit window to make their much-needed adjustments. On lap 72 the International MaxxForce team would get their shot at getting "Old Blue" back in the hunt. Starr would follow the 1 truck down pit road, the 1 truck's pit stall was the stall behind the 10 and Starr would have a difficult entry into his pit box. The 1 stopped and as Starr was headed to his box the 1 team started to service their truck working on the right side first. Starr and Cory White the front tire changer for the 1 never saw each other until it was too late and Starr clipped White sending him tumbling on pit road. In an effort to dodge White, Starr missed the pit box and the right side tires were outside of the box. Before NASCAR informed the team of the problem the front tire was already off and had to be put back on and the truck moved back. Back in the stall the team completed the stop, made the changes and sent Starr back on to the racetrack. The extended stay on pit road cost the team valuable track position and they were now all the way back to the 26th position.

Back under green the MaxxForce Ford F-150 had to slug it's way back into the top 20. With the caution flag in the air on lap 150 Connor called the MaxxForce machine to pit road for a set of fresh Goodyears and a round of changes to help improve the Ford F-150. On lap 190 a spin in front of Starr would collect the 10 truck and cause heavy damage to the left side of the International MaxxForce F-150. After a lengthy stop to repair the damage Starr returned "Old Blue" to the racetrack. With 50 laps to go Starr was at the tail end of the lead lap trucks and had a long way to go and a short time to get there. "Old Blue" was beat down but not out and Starr had his hands full trying to get back to the front. Spot by spot "Old Blue" rooted out each competitor and by the time the checkered flag flew Starr had his Ford up to 1 spot out of the top 10 in 11th.

The fight back to the front earned the International MaxxForce Diesel driver the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award and the team gained 7 positions in the championship point's standings up to 17th.

Crew chief Dennis Connor: "A much better weekend for our International MaxxForce Diesel team but still not up to my standards. We were able to Race this weekend and had some things happen that we have no control over. Really proud of the guys for continuing to keep digging after all the adversity on pit road."

David Starr: "My International MaxxForce Diesel Ford F-150 was just awesome today. We made our way up to about 12th or 13th for the first pit stop and I ran over the tire changer on the 1 truck getting into my pit. It spooked me a little bit, I was worried about him and didn't get all the way in my pit box and we had to go all the way to the tail end. We were really close to the top 10; this gives us some momentum going to Kansas. It's not what we wanted, but we're moving closer to the front and my team did a great job. We're excited with the progress of getting better, but we still have a lot more work to do. The good thing is that we're all willing to work hard to get this Ford F-150 back in front."

The MaxxForce International Diesel Power Team will be in action when the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series holds round 5 of the 2007 season in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, April 28th.