Driver headed to MIS through Martinsville

Adam Crawford is taking a roundabout way to Mobile International Speedway's opening night in hopes of clearing a direct path to NASCAR.

The 19-year-old Murphy High graduate, who's now based in Concord, N.C., is driving in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test sessions at Martinsville Speedway, which started on the venerable Virginia track Wednesday and conclude today. Then he's headed for Irvington, where he'll compete on Saturday night in the 95 KSJ 95-lap pro late-model race, the spotlight event of Mobile International's opening night of 2008.

Crawford recently received clearance for NASCAR participation on tracks up to five-eighths of a mile. The certification came just in time to allow Crawford to turn laps at Martinsville in a Circle Bar Racing Ford F-150 with the circuit's regular drivers, including his father, Rick Crawford.

"I feel pretty good about it," Adam Crawford said. "I just need to take my time and learn as much as I can from my dad and the other veteran drivers that I'll be out there with."

Adam Crawford's fastest lap of 92.15 mph in the Wednesday afternoon test session was the 35th-fastest among the 43 participating trucks. His father had the eighth-fastest lap at 93.933 mph, while Jack Sprague's Chevrolet paced the afternoon session at 94.387 mph.

Rick Crawford holds the truck series record with 275 career starts, and Adam Crawford said he realized he probably wouldn't have the test opportunity if not for his father's success on the circuit and longtime relationship with Circle Bar Racing owner Tom Mitchell.

"I feel like because of who my dad is has really given me a big break," Crawford said. "It's a great opportunity that now I have to take control of."

But it's not as if Crawford hasn't been paying his dues. For the past five years, he's spent his summers working in the shop at Circle Bar Racing, which fields the trucks driven by his father and Brendan Gaughan in NASCAR. On the track, he got his start in bandoleros, racing at venues as diverse as NASCAR showcase Lowe's Motor Speedway and Grand Bay's Sunny South Raceway. This will be his third season of late-model competition, and he was the pro late-model rookie of the year at Mobile International in 2006. Even Circle Bar's truck isn't a stranger to him: He's turned laps in it at Carraway Raceway in Asheboro, N.C.

"I was born into racing," Crawford said. "I've been going to Mobile International and Five Flags Speedway (in Pensacola) my whole life.

"But even if it wasn't for my dad, I'd still be a racer because I love it."

Crawford said there are no plans for him to enter a Craftsman Truck Series race. But his performance at Martinsville could change that.

"Climbing the ladder is what I'm trying to do," Crawford said. "We're coming to this test to see what I've got."

Regardless of his test showing, Crawford plans a busy season of late-model racing from Mobile International's opening night to the Snowball Derby in Pensacola in December. The Gulf Coast tracks won't be his only stops, as his schedule includes venues closer to his current base, such as Hickory Motor Speedway, which bills itself as the "Birthplace of NASCAR Stars."

"I'd race at all of them every week if I could," Crawford said.

He'll again drive in the Miller Lite Super Late Model Series at Mobile International, the track's five-event set of 100-lap races spread throughout the season. Crawford finished third in the series last season.

The first Miller Lite Super Late Model Series race is set for April 12, one of the 17 nights of racing on Mobile International's 2008 schedule. In addition to the pro late-model event, Saturday's opening night also will include competition in the modified, sportsman and bomber classes.