2/28/06 - It is GREAT to have the new website up and running. We would like to thank Rusty McKinley for all his hard word in putting the new site together.
We took the new car and participated in the Carl Casper?s auto show during last weekend. It was fun and we really appreciate everyone that came to the show and visited with us. We want to say a special thanks to Dave and Tina Rayburn for taking time out of their weekend to come over; it was very nice to have met Dave's parents at the show as well.
Also another big Thank you to Lee and his wife for coming as well.
Last but not least Thank you to Samantha for her support this weekend at the show.
The season is about to start, our first race is at Kentucky Motor Speedway on March 12. We hope to get in some testing prior to the first race. Look forward to seeing everyone at the track!
3/11/06 Today we made the trip to Kentucky Motor Speedway for Beau's first test session at the track. Unfortunately it was rained out and we did not get any track time. Weather permitting we will head back to the speedway tomorrow and put Beau on the track for his first Legends race. Beau is very excited about his new opportunity in the Legends car, and is very grateful to all of his sponsors to help him live the dream of his young life!
3-20-06 We completed our first weekend of racing in the legends cars. On Friday, we tested the Titon Energy car and run approximately 50-75 laps.
The car was very stable for Beau right off the trailer, thanks to the help of many people. John and Tony Watcher have been very helpful with the car, as well as Bill and Frank Kimmel. Beau was very pleased with the car on Friday and became very comfortable in the car.
The first race day was Saturday. Based on the testing results we made a minor change to the car, before the heat race.
Beau started the heat race on the outside of the second row. The start of the race was very clean and once the cars settled out Beau dropped into fourth place. After a couple of yellow flags, Beau finished his first race in fourth place. Later in the day, Beau once again started on the outside of the second row for the feature. After the green flag waved Beau dropped to around sixth place and by the end of the race he improved back to fourth.
On Sunday, Beau determined the car was good from the previous day and no changes were needed before racing began. Again, due to the draw Beau started the heat race on the outside of the second row. The heat race was very clean and Beau was able to improve to the third position by the end of the race.
With his third place finish in the heat race, Beau started the feature race on the inside of row two. After the green flag dropped, Beau settled into the second spot and ran two or three laps there. The car developed a slight push mid race and the third place car was able to get around him. After a couple of more laps, Beau was able to move to the front and lead six or seven laps. With two or three laps to go the car began push coming out of turn two and the second place car was able to get underneath Beau and held on for the win. Due to Beau finishing in the second spot in the chargers race, he advanced to the A main for the semipro division.
Beau started last in the eighteenth position for the A main and took the opportunity to gain more lap time on the track. There were a few incidents on the track were Beau done an outstanding job not to get involved in the incidents. He kept calm and finished the race in the eleventh position.
We want to thank Bill and Billy Heil for helping crew the car on Saturday. They were not able to make it on Sunday, due to Billy testing his Minicup car at the Sprotsdrome Speedway in Jeffersonville. We also want to thank Beau's biggest fans for their support on Sunday at the track. His Grandmother and Ron Hasken where there to Cheer him on.
4-3-06 - The team had another good weekend at the speedway. We had made a few changes to the car before the weekend, after when we unloaded; Beau took the track for the first practice session. The car did not work very well with the changes made to the set-up. He used the second practice to confirm the problems with the car, it was still bad. Before the heat race, we made a change to the car, which seem to help it a little, but not enough. Beau started the heat in the fourth position and was able to improve his position to third, with a poorly handling car.
With his third place finish in the heat, he started the charger feature (B main) on the inside of the second row. Prior to the race, we made some wholesale changes to the set-up. When the green flag dropped beau settle into third place. After about five laps of hard racing, Beau worked on the second place car and passed it on the backstretch. Once he pulled away from the third place car, he went to work on the leader. Beau worked on the leader very hard and again after five laps of racing, he shot to the inside of the leader coming off turn two. Going into turn three he was all the way to the inside of the leader, when the yellow flag dropped due to a spin in turn two. Once the track cleared, they placed Beau in the second position. Once the green flag flew, Beau went back to work on the leader with five laps to go.. He made a couple of runs at him, but was unable to get back around him before the end of the race. Beau finished second and advanced to the A main.
Beau started sixteenth at the tail of the field. After a couple of caution periods Beau moved up to the fourteenth position. During the last restart, the car behind him ran into the rear of the car and knocked the bumper loose on the car at which time the black flag was shown and Beau?s race was over. Overall, it was another very good weekend for Beau and he continues to do a great job learning the car.
We also want to thank the Webb family for coming to the track and supporting Beau!!!!
4/11/06 ? Sorry, we are a little late with the update. Beau raced at Rockcastle Speedway in Mt. Vernon, Kentucky last weekend. Above all, it was very cold that night. Beau started it what has become his usual starting position in the heat race, second row outside. The ten-car field had a very good start and Beau settled into fourth place after one lap. Before the end of lap one two cars in front of him tangled and were placed at the rear of the field, moving Beau to the outside of the front row for the restart. Due to starting on the outside, Beau was hung out until he could slip into the fifth position. After settling in, he started working on the fourth place car and was able to get under him coming into turn four. Unfortunately, the fourth place car did not see Beau making his move and decided to try to pass the third place car at the same time. The fourth place car ran into the right side of Beau?s car and spun him into the inside wall, doing damage to the front suspension. Beau was able to drive the car off the track. After getting, the car back to the pit and making an assessment it was determined there was too much damage to the car t to continue to race that night.
We returned to the shop late in the evening and waited to the next day to begin repairs. Thanks to the help of Tony Watcher, Bill, and Billy Heil, we repaired the car on Sunday. We will be setting the car up this week and will be ready to race this coming weekend at Kentucky Motor Speedway.
SEE YOU AT THE TRACK!
4-25-06 Well we made the long haul to KIL-Kare speedway last weekend, only to get rained out. Our next race is May 5 at Kil-Kare and we also race the next two days at Kentucky Motor Speedway. On May 6, we have one of the biggest and logest races of the year 100 laps at kentucky Motor Speedway.
The team has been talking with the awareness for Autism and will be sporting an awareness decal on his car in future races. We are very happy to be a part of the efforts to help with Autism.
5-5-06 We finished loading the car tonight to leave early in the morning for one of the biggest races of the season, the Humpy 100 at Kentucky Motor Speedway. We would like to take some time to announce a new partner to the Beau Crawford racing team, Southern Indiana Equipment was gracious enough to come on board and sponsor Beau during the 2006 season. It has been a very exciting day in the shop. We went to SIE this afternoon and picked up a brand new EZ-GO golf cart to take to and from the tracks with us. Look around the pits and visit us in our pits to see the awesome cart supplied by SIE. Bu the way the new cart is for sale and we would be glad to introduce you to Ron Zipp at SIE to discuss the purchase of the cart at the track or the order of another through his store. It is GREAT to have such huge support for Beau. He is very excited about the 1oo lap race tomorrow. We will also be racing on Sunday at Kentucky too, so come to the track stop by the pits and show your support for Beau!
5/9/06 You would think since we had a very good weekend racing, I would not be so late with the update. On Saturday we qualified 20th out of 40 for the 100 lap A main. Since we did not qualify in the top two places, we had to run in the B main to try and lock into the 100 lap A main. Beau started on the outside of the second row for the last chance race. We the green flag wave was dropped he settle into the fourth position. The field ran about three or four laps and the third place car jump the tires on the inside of the track, just as Beau was making his move to overtake him for the position.
The officials clearly did not see the incident and assumed Beau had run into the back of the third place car and created the spin. Under the rules of competition both cars involved in this type of caution have to go to the rear of the field for the restart. After the race was over, we approached the official and showed him the replay of the incident, which clearly showed Beau, did not touch the third place car. We understand the officials have to make difficult calls and can not always be correct. The bad part of this day was it caused Beau to miss the 100 lap A main race.
On Sunday we unloaded the car and made some minor changes to the setup and Beau was running within .01 of a second of the pole position time for the previous day. Due to his draw for the heat race, Beau started on the outside of the front row. He made a tremendous start and took the lead coming off turn two and went on to lead the whole race, for his first win of the season! This finish gave him a starting position of seventeenth for the A main. Beau ran a very clean race, and work his way to finish in the ninth position in the feature race. Overall it was a very good weekend for Beau and he continues to get faster each week. We believe it will not be long before Beau will be contending for an A main feature win. A big thanks goes to Bill and Billy Heil for helping with the pit duties during the weekend, it would be very hard to do it without them.
5-23-06 Sorry for the delay! It has been a very busy week. Last weekend we went to Rock castle speedway in Mt. Vernon, KY. Beau had a very impressive qualifying effort. Out of twenty-five to thirty care, Beau was eighth fastest qualifier. In the Semi-pro division he qualified second fast.
Beau started on the outside of the second row for his heat race. When the race started Beau got a very good jump at the start, but this caused hi to carry to much speed into the first turn and he pushed high, allowing a couple of cars to get past him before he could settle into fourth place. He finished fourth in the heat race, which gave him a starting position on the out side of the second row for the A main feature. Overall it was a fairly good race. Beau settle into the fourth position after the start, while running with the lead pack it was obvious he was a bit faster than the cars in front of him. After the race was over and he finished fourth, he return to the pits very frustrated. He explained to me that he felt there was some mirror driving in front of him during the feature.
If you know Beau, you know he is a very clean driver and did not want to tear his or anyone else car up by driving rough to get past the cars mirror driving. At some point in time it will become more difficult to continue to be mirror driven and not cause some bad feelings amongst the drivers.
We will be racing this Saturday and Sunday at Kentucky Motor Speedway. The Saturday race will be a national qualifying race and the Sunday race will be a regular show. We hope to see everyone at the track this weekend!
5-29-06 Beau had a very good weekend racing at Kentucky Motor Speedway. On Saturday the speedway experienced a record number of cars at any one event. A total of 89 cars were there to compete. In the legends divisions there were 55 cars for the national qualifier. Out of the fifty-five (55) cars qualifying, Beau qualified 20th fastest overall, and tenth (10) fastest for the semi-pro division. Beau finished fourth in his heat race, which gave him a starting position in the A main. After a long caution filled feature Beau finished 8th out of the 24 starters.
On Sunday most of the traveling team remained and Beau qualified 9th in the semi-pro division and 19 fastest overall. Beau started on the outside of row two for his heat race and finished third. With the third place finish in the heat he again was given a guaranteed starting position in the A main of seventh. On this day KOIL decided to start 27 cars in the A main. Again there were a lot of cautions during the race, a few of which Beau done an outstanding job of avoiding. At the conclusion of the race Beau finished 6th.
Given the two very good finishes during the weekend Beau should move back up to third in KOIL tour points. Last but not least, we want to thank some very special guest at the track this weekend for showing their support for Beau. Shelly, Tim, and Zack Klein spent all day Sunday with the race team, and we really enjoyed having them at the track.
It looks like we will have a couple of weeks off, before our next race. This will give us time to maybe work on some new ideas for the car. We have also been thinking very hard about going to Anderson Speedway and racing as well, maybe some of you could join us there.
6-29-06 ? First, thanks to all the fans that came to support Beau last night at the Sportsdrome Speedway. The night started out rough for the team. We incorporated many changes in the car, from our test session the week before. Unfortunately, the car and Beau did not take to the changes very well. The car experienced a few problem during the first hot lap session. We made a change to the setup after the first session and tried it again in the second session. The second session was a little better than the first, but still not good enough. We decided after the practice sessions were over to go back to the setup we used in the past.
This was the first race of the year, which fuel safety shut off switches were mandatory on the cars. We were schedule to start seventh in the heat race. After taking the green flag, the car quit running. Come to find out the fuel safety switch shut the engine down.
The bad luck in the heat race, really put Beau at a disadvantage to his starting position in the feature. Beau has to start 24th in the field. It took a couple of start to get the feature rolling, after which Beau started his progress through the field. He ran a very good race, considering all the problems we had gone through during the night. By the end of the race, Beau was able to gain eleven positions, before the checkered flag fell, not bad for a car that was still very loose during the feature.
7-29-06 First, let us apologize for the lack of updates recently. A few weeks ago at the Rock Castle Speedway Beau was involved in an incident during the race. At first, it appeared the only damage was to the car. After repairs were completed, we found some internal damage also happened to the engine during the same incident. We took the car back to the race shop and removed the motor, loaded it on the truck and left for Nashville and Ken Joyce?s shop.
After we arrived to Ken Joyce?s; Ken removed the front engine cover and determined the clutch had come apart and needed replaced, which he did. After returning to our shop the next day, we reinstalled the engine in the car. Once all connections were made, we fired the engine, only to find out there was still a miss and some noise in it. We called Ken and again he was very helpful and tried to help us diagnose the potential problem over the phone.
After working with Ken over the phone for quite a will, he determined it would be better if we return to Nashville and let him look at the engine. We removed the engine and left for Ken?s shop the next day. Ken and his staff disassembled the engine at which time Ken Determined the crank had possible been twisted during the incident at the Rockcastle Speedway.
We decided to leave the engine with Ken, so he could work on all the issues at hand. During his final inspection, he determined the crank and pistons needed replaced. We want the really thank ken for all his help during these trying times.
As of today, we continue to wait for Ken to complete all the repairs, so we can return to racing. Our goal is to be back on the track by the Young Lions National (or before) September.
Thank you to all our fans that continually check this website for updates and information. We will try to do a better job with updates in the future!
8-6-06 Finally, Beau returned to the race track last night. Although it was not in his Legends race car, due to the fact we cannot get the engine builder (Ken Joyce) to return the engine after repairs. We are trying to be patient and make the best of opportunities in the mean time. Beau returned to his roots last night at the Jeffersonville Sportsdrome. He was very pleased that Marvin and Mason Mitchell ask him to drive their backup minicup car during their visit from IOWA.
Although the evening started out very rough and slow Beau continued to relay to the crew what the car was doing and they made changes to improve it. Still with an ill handling car for the heat race, Beau started on the pole. He led the first four laps of the eight lap race, finishing fourth. With his heat race finish, Beau started on the inside of row four for the feature. When the green flag dropped the field settled in and Beau assumed the seventh position. He continued to drive to his best ability and by the end of the race finished third in the field.
Although Beau has extensive minicup experience, this was only his second start in the open class and the first time he has been back in a minicup for well over a year. Again we want to thank the Mitchell?s and all the rest of the competitor at the Sportsdrome Speedway for welcoming us back!
8-22-06 - We finally received our engine back from the repair shop on Friday August 18. It is in the car and we are ready to return to the racetrack. We will be testing on Wednesday August 23 at Kentucky motor speedway, in preparation for the Young Lions Nationals on September 2-3. Beau is very excited to get back behind the wheel.
9-10-06 - I know I am late again with an update. Last weekend at the Young Lion National, Beau had not so good of a weekend. On Saturday, we struggled with trying to get a handle on the race car setup. We did not have much luck with the setup, but we did finish all the races we competed in.
On Sunday we picked up were we left off on Saturday and try to make the best out of the things we changed on Saturday. During practice we felt we had gained some ground with the set up and was turning some fairly decent times. When it was time to qualify, Beaus crew chief messed him up and he missed one lap of the five lap qualifying session ( we did not like the qualifying format and fill we could have done much better one car at a time).
The highlight of our weekend was the children and their parents from the Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) organization came to the track to support Beau. After practice sessions were complete Beau had the opportunity to spend some time with the Children. He signed many autographs for each on them, after which they all got a turn to sit in the race car. We hope to have some pictures posted on the web page fairly quickly. We look forward to having them visit us at the track in the future.
10-9-06 Beau participated in his first race last weekend at the Anderson Speedway. He was very impressed with the race track and says he wants to go back many times. On Saturday there were three practice sessions of which we experienced trouble in the first two with a bad vibration in the car and only got to run one lap in each.
Luckily we had the opportunity to work on the car before practice ended. We had to change the drive flange on the engine to the drive shaft. Once the replacement was made, Beau did get in about five good laps of practice, before qualifying was set to begin. Beau approached qualifying with caution, due to the limited amount of practice he had. By the end of qualifying Beau was the fifth fastest qualifier with a respectful 14.55 sec lap.
Due to hid qualifying effort Beau was scheduled to start on the inside of the second row for the heat race that evening. Due to the fact the car slated to start on the inside pole opted to start on the tail of the field, be moved to the inside of the front row. He learned his first lesson at Anderson. The inside front row is not necessarily the best place to start on a high bank track. When the green flag was thrown the outside car maintained a good start and was able to assume the lead going into turn one. Beau settled into the second position for a couple of laps, before some of the more experience drivers in the field caught hi and two proceeded to get by him before the end of the ten lap heat race. Beau finished in the fourth position at the same pace as the leaders.
On Sunday the only racing scheduled was the twenty-five lap feature race. Once again Beau moved to the inside of row one for the start. To his credit he learned from the previous day how to better start the race. When the green flag flew Beau immediately jump to the front spot. He maintained a very good pace for the next three laps at the front of the field. On the fourth lap the car became very loose on entry and caused him to go high in turn one and four cars were able to pass him before he could gather it back up. He resumed the pace with the sixth place car right on his bumper. Before the end of the feature the car behind him was able to get around him for the fifth place, leaving Beau to finish in the sixth position. It was a very respectable weekend for Beau and his first trip to a high bank track.
Beau is looking forward to returning to the high banks on November 4th at Anderson Motor Speedway.
10-17-06 our schedule has changed. Instead of racing at Anderson on November 4, we have decided to go to Kentucky Motor Speedway for the weekend. This will give us maximum amount racing. There will be a 100 lap race on the fourth and a regular race schedule of the fifth. We plan to return to Anderson on November 11 (if it is not snowing by that time).
The race on the fourth at Kentucky is schedule to start at 4:00pm, gates open at 2:00pm. Racing on the Fifth will start at 11:30 am. We look forward to seeing some of you at the track.
11/7/06 - Beau competed in the last race of the season last weekend. On Saturday, he qualified 9th out of twenty-five cars for the 100-lap race. After the start of the race, Beau settled into the tenth position for the first five or six laps. On the next lap going into turn one Beau did not see one of the other competitors and moved to the bottom of the track and made contact with the other car and spun (Beau took full responsibility for this incident). After the spin, Beau had to move to the rear of the field for the restart.
Beau started working his way through the field and moved back into the top ten, when another car actually made contact with him and they spun once again. This caused Beau to start at the rear of the field on the next restart again. Before long, the same car that made contact with him before again caused the cars to spin out sending them to the rear of the field once more.
Beau restarted the race in the back with approximately 40 laps to the end. After a few more cautions not involving him, he worked his way to the fourth position. On the last lap, in the last turn, another competitor with very little racing sense tried to pass him in the grass and caused both cars to spin going for the checked flag. Needless to say, Beau was somewhat upset. The car was not damaged to bad and easily fixed for the next day race, but it did cause him to finish in the 13th position, instead of fourth.
On Sunday?s Beau qualified 10, again out of twenty-five cars. The start of the race was very good, the cars settled into order, and run the first half of the forty-lap race was clean. After a few caution periods, Beau again was running in the fourth position with three laps to complete the race. During the restart of the last caution, Beau was pushed out of the way (typical Kentucky racing) and three cards were able to make their way past him. Beau finished 7th overall.
11/12/06 - The last race of the season was canceled at Anderson Speedway, therefore the season is over. Beau had a very good rookie year. He finished in the tenth position in the KOIL tour. Beau achieved his goal for the year, even though he had some bad luck during the season.
Half way through the season we lost an engine, which caused him to miss seven or eight races. He is looking forward to the 2007 season.
We would like to Thanks the sponsors that supported the team in 2006. Our Major sponsor was Titon Energy; with out them it would have been very difficult. Dave Rayburn and his company are great people. Our associate sponsors are much appreciated as well. John Jones Automotive Outlet, Foster's waterproofing, Southern Indiana Equipment, last but not least, M&D auto body. We are hoping we can continue are relationship with each of these Great companies in 2007 and beyond.
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