By Chuck Corder

Anyone questioning the toughness it takes to wheel a stock car hasn’t met Kraig Crossley.

The 33-year-old Milton driver, who builds swimming pools for a living, has a horrific story that’s sure to make even the staunchest doubter eat a little crow.

Two years ago at Flomaton Speedway, a nearby dirt track just across the state line in Alabama, Crossley flipped and rolled his 1934 Vintage sedan. Crossley was not only unharmed thanks to the harnesses but, preposterously perhaps, raring to continue racing that same night.

“I would’ve completed the race if I could, but the car wasn’t able to go,� he said. “It was just another ride to me. No big deal. Like a roller coaster ride that slings you upside down.�

Crossley certainly hopes history doesn’t repeat itself when the ever-growing Southern Vintage Racing Association makes its annual pilgrimage to Five Flags Speedway on Friday night.

If another wild ride did occur, though, Crossley has the utmost confidence in his crew made up of his father, Dave Crossley, Ron Narvesen and car owner Denny Argabrite among others.

After he flipped and barrel-rolled and kicked up all kinds of dirt across Flomaton, Kraig Crossley was racing a few days later at Baker's Northwest Florida Speedway.

“It was messed up bad,� Kraig Crossley said. “Me and the crew busted our tails from Sunday to Friday, cut up a spare body I had, put it on the car, replaced some bars, and we were back out racing the next Friday night.�

This Friday, Crossley will test his mettle on the abrasive asphalt of Five Flags for just the second time in his career. The Faith Chapel Super Stocks, The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen and Butler U-Pull-It Bombers will also compete.

Friday night marks the annual kids’ bicycle races for children ages 12 and under. There will be three age divisions (5-under, 6 to 9, 10 to 12) and all riders are asked to bring a helmet with their bike and complete registration between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday. Each rider receives a trophy and ice cream, courtesy of Panhandle Grading and Paving.

Capping off a big Friday will be the death-defying stunts of motorcyclist Tim Dyson. Admission is $10 for all adults, $5 for kids ages 6 to 11 and free for kids under 5. The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday.

A dirt racer to his core, Crossley competed in hobby and mini-sprint classes as a teenager. After toying with an S-10 truck more recently, Crossley finally hopped into a Vintage car five years ago. His has the body of a 1934 Ford sedan, but its frame and power are rooted in Chevrolet.

“It’s more erratic, in the way it handles, than anything I’ve ever driven because of the weight,� he said.

Which is a facet of the car Crossley adores. He loves having to manhandle the car to get it to where he wants it to go.

Crossley has been lucky enough the last two years to put his Pepto-Bismol-colored pink No. “R2C� into contention wherever the Southern Vintage Racing Association has entertained.

The reigning Sunoco Points Champion, Crossley once again owns the points lead this year. He has also been the Vintage champion at Northwest Florida Speedway the last two seasons.

“We’ve just been consistent throughout the year,� said Crossley, who doesn’t keep track of any wins or his podium finishes. “We’re just there to have fun, and make memories with family and friends.�

Like Steve Buttrick in the Sportsmen division, Crossley enjoys giving away trophies no matter where he places. Two-year-old daughter Kendall maintains the lion’s share of the hardware these days because “she wants them,� as Crossley put it.

“She’s pretty much the boss throughout the week,� her proud father continued. “She’s in the shop and everything. She’s addicted to it.�

She’s probably also addicted to the color of Crossley’s Vintage car. What little girl doesn’t love all things pink?

Crossley’s choice wasn’t simply to make his daughter’s face light up, though.

“Fabricators would ask me every year what color I wanted, and I’d tell them, ‘I don’t care; paint it pink,’ � he explained. “We haven’t changed it because we’re known now as the pink car. Kids love it. And I love that they do. I was a youngster at the racetrack and loved the cars that stood out.�

Crossley also chose the unique color in hopes of raising awareness for all types of cancer. His “R2C� number stands for the website racing2cure.org.

“Cancer is everywhere, and I've lost people close to me and my friends because of it,� Crossley said. “I contacted racing2cure.org about putting the number on the car, and they said it was an awesome idea, and nobody had done it.�

Last October, in support of breast cancer month, Crossley drove the No. R2C topless. That is to say, the car had no roof, not that Crossley, himself, was without a firesuit, much less a shirt.

The move was to help collect money for the Pink Pirates of Navarre, a group that helps women who can’t afford mammograms pay for the necessary exams.

“It was cool for the fans because you could see the driver and what we’re actually doing without the roof there to casts a shadow,� Crossley said. “It was the same to me. It didn’t bother me. For myself, when I get in the zone, I don’t think there’s anything that can bother me.�

If flipping a racecar didn’t rattle his cage, one figures driving without a roof wouldn't be much different.