Nascar Trucks: David Starr Post-Race Texas Report
13 June 1999
STARR DISSAPOINTED IN HIS CAREER-BEST FINISH Ft. Worth, Texas - When is a career-best finish in the Craftsman Truck Series disappointing? When you are running as high as seventh and in the top-10 for the majority of the race, only to come across the finish line two laps down in 14th. This is exactly what happened to David Starr during the PRONTO AUTO PARTS 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Starting from the tenth position Starr held his No. 73 Chevrolet Silverado in the draft among the leaders for the majority of the race. However, a long caution-free stretch near the end meant that green flag pit stops would be necessary. Though most of the leaders chose to take on gas and two tires only, the Sonntag Redi-Mix team felt that their best strategy was to take on four fresh tires. Unfortunately the strategy backfired as a slow pit stop put Starr two-laps down and he was unable to overcome the deficit. "Yes, I am disappointed in the finish. I know that it is the best I've ever done in the Truck Series and for that I am happy but we were up there running in the top-10 nearly the entire race," Starr said after climbing from the cockpit. "The crew worked hard to give me a fast truck and keep me up front. Something happened on pit road during the last stop and I got out slow. These thing happen sometimes." Starr's race was nearly finished early, however, when Terry Fisher spun his Dodge on lap four. Fisher was sideways on the track and his truck moved up the banking right in front of Starr. "That was a pretty scary moment," Starr recalled. "I saw (Fisher's) truck coming up the track but there was no place I could go. I was pressing down on the brake pedal as hard as I could. I bet it was pushed down so hard I nearly put it through the firewall. I bet I didn't miss him by more than a foot or two, tops." Starr stopped just in time to avoid hitting Fisher squarely in the passenger door. He continued on and completed 177 of the 179 laps contested on the 1.5-mile superspeedway. Dennis Setzer won the event. For his efforts Starr collected $10,925, the largest payday of his career. He was the second-highest finishing rookie in the race and for that received a bonus from the USG SHEETROCK Brand, sponsor of the Rookie-of-the-Year title. "Well, we came to our home track hoping to have the best race yet. I suppose that we accomplished that goal, but it is hard not to think about how much better we could have done," Starr reflected. A resident of Ft. Worth, he also races a limited Winston West schedule in the #35 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.