Patience has been a theme of Craig Barham’s racing career since he first climbed into a Street Stock car in 2001.
From joking with friend Scott Stripling before races to biding his time to set up numerous passes over the years, Barham always has taken a slow and steady approach to racing.
These days, each week is an exercise in patience.
Barham, who won the Street Stocks points title at Columbus Speedway in 2006, sold both of his Street Stock cars in the offseason and bought a GRT Late Model car. He’d always dreamed of running Crate Late Models, and after the 2015 season, he couldn’t wait any longer.
“One of the Street Stocks was brand new,” Barham said, “but the time was right. A week later, they were sold and we were committed to trying Crates.”
The transition has been the ultimate learning experience for Barham, who has raced for 15 years. In four races this season, Barham has learned there are a lot of differences — from the size of the tires to the dimensions of the car — and that setting up a car isn’t as simple as trying what works for someone else, even if you get advice from area drivers like Eddie Rickman, whom Barham worked for and drove a hauler for prior to getting his race car.
“It’s like a game of chess,” Barham said. “It’s so much different, trying to get the car to turn without pushing, spinning. The bars are so much different; you can move one down, one up, and it’ll do different things. You can change the whole geometry of the car just moving one thing, and you have to get the right combination to make it stick. You learn something new every time you go out there.”
The learning curve is decreasing for Barham, who entered last weekend’s race at Magnolia Motor Speedway with mixed results. Barham failed to make two features and finished 12th in a weekly feature.
On Saturday, Barham, a Columbus native, worked his way into a competitive field the hard way. He climbed from the tail end of B-main pack to finish seventh and make the feature race. In the feature, he started on the back row and finished 18th.
“I was proud for myself and my team,” Barham said. “It made me more confident, driving with a large crowd of cars out there and in that division. It gives me more drive for the next race. If I can do that, I can continue to go forward.”
Barham credited his crew chief — and son-in-law — Matthew Aaron, and his father, Ronald Barham, for helping him with the transition to Crates. He said he’s still adjusting to the increased power of Crate motors, but he has spun out only once — a qualifying run — in four race nights.
“It was a combination of a lot of things … air pressure, springs, etc.,” Barham said. “I’d put it like this: it’s just like getting out of a Volkswagon and getting into a Cadillac. It’s more of a rush. The car is a heck of a lot faster.”
Barham plans to race primarily at Magnolia this season. He said he’ll continue to watch drivers like Scott Dedwylder and Johnny Stokes, particularly in the corners, noting where they enter and exit the turns.
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