NASCAR Trucks: Engine Troubles Dog Starr
20 September 1999
David Starr claims to have had some good race trucks underneath him lately but engine problems have dogged him and relegated him to sub-par performances. "It seems like every time the truck runs good we have engine problems," lamented the driver of the No. 73 Sonntag Redi-Mix Concrete Chevrolet. "Fortunately, it hasn't always slowed us down. At Richmond I had a great truck and even though it was running on seven cylinders I was still able to pass on the outside. It was an accident that took us out there, but at other events, like Memphis, the engine just gave out." The mystery, however, is how to solve this problem. "I think that we put the wrong carburetor on the wrong engine," Starr suggested. "Sure it's a silly mistake but I'm not the only rookie on this team. Every single crew member is new to the Truck Series so we are all rookies and bound to make mistakes as we learn, but we are getting better with every race," Starr emphasized. "The guys put a great truck together and I was able to lead eight laps at New Hampshire. And last week at Richmond I was in second for a while so we know we can do it, but we've got to get the engine program solved in time for the big tracks left on the schedule. You can work with seven cylinders on a short track and not lose too much but when we go to a superspeedway and have that type of problem the other (drivers) will pass me like I'm standing still," Starr explained. Of the four races remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series three are on big, fast superspeedways that measure 1.5-miles or longer starting with the Orleans 250 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This race takes place on Friday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast live on both ESPN and MRN radio. The other superspeedway events take place at Texas Motor Speedway and the California Speedway. "I'm confident that we can run near the front of the field at these races if we can keep the motor running strong," Starr said. "The Chevrolet truck we put out at Texas (during the June race) was awesome and I was able to keep in the lead draft nearly the entire race. If we can do that three more times we will end this season on a real high note. I still want to obtain my goal of two top-10 finishes by the end of the season and time is running out," Starr noted. In addition to the Craftsman Truck Series event, Starr will also try to qualify for the Gold Coast 150, a Winston West event. Should he put the No. 35 Big Daddy's BBQ Sauces Chevrolet Monte Carlo into the field it would mark the first time in his career that he has raced two events in the same weekend. He tried this feat last year but did not qualify for the truck race, though a seventh place finish in the Winston West event helped ease the pain. "Last year I tried to make both races. I missed the field in the Truck Series and had a bad qualifying run in the Winston West car and started 30th," Starr said. "But I was able to work through the field and finished seventh. That was pretty good for my very first Winston West event. Hopefully, I can finish top-10 in both races this time around." A resident of Fort Worth, Texas, Starr is competing is his first full-season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He currently stands 21st in the Craftsman Truck Series standings and third in the USG SHEETROCK Brand Rookie-of-the-Year standings. Starr also runs a limited schedule in the Winston West series.
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