WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN (JUNE 26, 2006) - David Starr hoped that working with a new race team and a new manufacturer – the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota – would help him to finally conquer the Milwaukee Mile. Starr admits that the one- mile flat track baffles the Texas native.
Heading into the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, Starr hoped that the Toyota horsepower and the strength of his team led by crew chief Jamie Jones would help him to score a top finish at the Milwaukee Mile. In the end, Starr got just what he hoped for. The No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota finished in eighth place – the team’s fourth top 10 of the year.
“Because of pit strategy that wasn’t necessarily of our own making, we had to go to the back twice and make our way through the field,” Starr said. “Jamie Jones and the Red Horse Racing crew gave me a truck that had the ability to drive from the back, all the way into the top 10. I couldn’t be prouder of what these guys and this team accomplished here in Milwaukee tonight. I feel like we won the race in some ways.”
Starr started the 200-mile race in 21st place. The starting place wasn’t what the team had hoped for, but Starr was still confident that his truck could still be a contender in the race. Starr patiently guided his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota through the field. By Lap 20, Starr had moved into 17th-place on the track. Still in 17th-place, the caution flag waved at Lap 36. Starr told the crew that his truck was tight off of turn two. The No. 11 Red Horse Racing pit crew brought Starr down pit road for service. The crew changed four tires, added fuel, and made air pressure and track bar adjustments to help with the handling of the race truck. Starr returned to the race track in 13th-place.
Over the course of the next 40 laps, Starr was able to pick up two positions and move into 11th-place. He reported to the crew at the Lap 76 caution that he was still having problems with the truck in turns three and four. Starr came down pit road again at Lap 78 for four tires and fuel. He returned to the track in 13th-place. The new tires were just what Starr needed as he began moving up on the race track.
At Lap 94, Starr was in ninth place when he was involved in an on-track incident. The No. 75 started a chain reaction wreck that caused Starr to spin and hit a third truck. The team elected to pit for four fresh tires, fuel and to check the damage done to the truck. The pit crew determined the damage was mostly cosmetic, and Starr returned to the track at Lap 99 in 25th-place.
Starr would now have to work his way through the field. At Lap 113, the caution waved again. Starr was in 23rd position. Since the Red Horse Racing team had just pitted, they elected to stay on the race track when the other teams pitted. That allowed Starr to take over the lead. At Lap 118, Starr restarted the race in first place on old tires. Starr quickly fell back to second-place on the restart. When the caution waved again at Lap 120, the Red Horse Racing Crew elected to pit for four tires and fuel.
Again, Starr would restart near the back of the pack at Lap 123 in 27th place and have to make his way through the field. Steadily and patiently, Starr began clicking off positions one by one on the race track. In just 15 laps, Starr had moved into the Top 15. Ten laps later at Lap 153, Starr had cracked the Top 10 and told his crew that he was doing the best he could to score a good finish for the team.
“You’re doing a good job,” crew chief Jamie Jones told Starr.
At the end of the 200-lap event, Starr was posted in eighth-place. It was the fourth top-10 finish for the Red Horse Racing crew during the 2006 season. The team currently sits ninth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, 300 points behind leader Todd Bodine and just 44 points out of the Top Five.
“This Red Horse Racing crew did a heck of a job tonight working on this Toyota truck,” Starr said. “We had to go to the back twice and work our way through the field – so I know that I passed a lot of trucks out there tonight. The guys kept working on my truck and making it better, which allowed me to get through the field both times. I’m proud of what we did tonight, and I think this Red Horse Racing team just keeps getting better and better.”
Starr and the No. 11 Red Horse Racing team return to the track this Saturday, July 1 at Kansas Speedway. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race begins at 3:15 p.m. ET. It can be seen on SPEED and heard on MRN/XM Satellite Radio.