Ricky Craven

Craven in 2004

**Richard Allen Craven** is an American stock car racing analyst and former driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series part-time driving the no.19 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports after Jeremy Mayfield was fired from the team.

Craven is perhaps most well known for winning the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, beating Kurt Busch in the closest finish in Pepsi Cup Series history.

## Career

### 1991: First Start

In 1991, Craven made his Pepsi Cup debut, driving the no.20 Morocco Racing Oldsmobile at the second Rockingham race. After qualifying 34th, he finished 44th due to engine issues.

### 1995-1996: Larry Hedrick Motorsports

In 1995, Craven teamed up with Larry Hedrick Motorsports and the organization's Kodiak to run full time.

Craven started the '95 season with two 16th place finishes at the Daytona 500 and North Carolina Speedway. However in the third race at Richmond engine issues knocked Craven out the race after 141 laps. He then rebounded with a 12th place finish at Atlanta. After suffering his second DNF at Darlington due to the rocker arms giving out, Craven ran okay with only two more top twenties for the next several races until the Coca Cola 600 when he scored his first top ten by finishing 10th. Nine races later, Craven scored his second top ten after finishing 10th once again, this time at Watkins Glen. He would then follow up with a 7th place run the following race at Michigan Speedway. Craven would then go on to have one more top 20 at Darlington, and his 8th pace run at North Carolina Speedway. He finished 24th in points, and was able to defeat Robert Pressley for the top rookie award. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a partial ownership share in Hedrick's team.

1996 started off nice when Craven scored his career top five after he finished 3rd in the second race of the year at North Carolina Speedway, two races later he finished din the same position at Darlington, followed by a 9th at Bristol, and a 7th at North Wilkesboro. He then followed those three consecutive Top 10 finishes with his first career pole award at Martinsville Speedway, after that race he was 4th in points.

However in the following race, which was the 1996 Winston Select 500 at Talladega, Craven was involved in a multi-car wreck on lap 130, with his car being launched into the air and impacted with the catch fence above the wall before being thrown back onto the track and was hit by another car. The crash completely sheared the catchfence off the turn and NASCAR threw a lengthy red flag to make repairs. Craven miraculously walked away from his car. After that, Craven would only collect five more top twenties, and one more top ten, which was a top five at Charlotte in the fall and finished 19th in points. With his performance slipping due to a lack of confidence following that wreck at Talladega. Craven left for Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the 1996 season.

### 1997-1998: Hendrick Motorsports

In 1997, Craven left Hedrick to drive the No. 52 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. He started off the year with a bang, finishing third in the 1997 Daytona 500 behind his teammates Terry Labonte in second and Jeff Gordon in first, giving Hendrick Motorsports a 1-2-3 sweep of the Daytona 500. He followed up with another top five at Rockingham, then a 14th at Richmond, before suffering two DNF's in a row at Atlanta and Darlington due to crashes.

In the following week, during practice for the inaugural Interstate Batteries 500 at Texas, Craven crashed hard into the wall. He missed two races due to a concussion suffered from the wreck. Upon Craven's return, he struggled for the next four races until he scored three consecutive top twenties, followed by a top ten at California. Craven then achieved two more top fives, four more top tens, and seven more top twenties to successfully finish 19th in points.

1998 began with a 14th at Daytona, followed by a top ten at Rockingham. However the following two races saw him finish 27th and 34th. However after the fourth race of the year at Atlanta, the side effects of the concussion began to appear, and Craven was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, and was forced to miss several races until he recovered. He returned at his home track at New Hampshire International Speedway later that year won the pole. After four races, he was released permanently from Hendrick, and did not return until the final three races of the season, filling in for Ernie Irvan at MB2 Motorsports.

### 1999: SBIII Motorsports and Midwest Transit Racing

For 1999, Craven signed to drive the No. 58 Ford Taurus for Scott Barbour's recently formed, SBIII Motorsports. Craven began the Daytona 500, 26th in the Daytona 500, followed by a 22nd at Rockingham. However Craven then suffered three consecutive DNF's with handling problems at Las Vegas after 136 laps, his Ford's engine gave out at Atlanta, and a crash at Darlington. Craven's best finish in the first 13 races of 1999, was his 19th place showing at Richmond. He was released from SBIII and replaced by Loy Allen, Jr. after the first Dover Race.

After being absent from the next three races, Craven joined the other new team, Midwest Transit Racing and their no.50 Chevrolet for the Daytona Night race, however in his first start with the team, he finished 50th after steering took out of the race after 36 laps. Craven then closed out the year driving for them, but he only participated in the last 12 of the 17 remaining races in the season.

### 2000: Part-Time with Midwest Transit

In 2000, Craven joined the team with the plans to run full-time. Craven stared the new millennium 32nd in the 2000 Daytona 500. After that, he finished 43rd in the following race at Rockingham, followed by a 40th place finish at Las Vegas. However abruptly Midwest Transit Racing did not show up for the following race at Atlanta. Craven then participated In the following races at Darlington (45th), and Bristol (47th) before skipping the next races at Texas as a part of Midwest Transit Racing's decision to switch to a part-time schedule after the team started having problems finishing races early in the season. After this, Craven had four Top 20 finishes with a best finish of 15th at Rockingham. He finished 44th in points. Craven then quit driving for the Midwest Transit.

### 2001-2004: The PPI Motorsports Days

In January the next year, it was announced that Craven would replace Scott Pruett in PPI Motorsports's No. 32 Ford, while Pruett moved to MOPAR Racing.

Craven started off the year 23rd in the Daytona 500, followed by his first top five in six years by finishing 5th. Craven went on to have a good year scoring two more top fives with a second place run which also he won the pole in the summer race at Michigan International Speedway, with three top tens and in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway, he held off Dale Jarrett in the closing laps for his first career Pepsi Cup win. He then placed 21st in points. PPI then announced Craven would return in 2002.

In 2002, he won two poles, scored nine Top 10 finishes, and finished a career-best 15th in points. PPI then made a switch to Pontiac in 2003, providing the No. 32 car with a factory-backed engine program.

Craven began 2003 with a strong Top 5 at Rockingham and a famous victory at Darlington, in which he beat Kurt Busch to the finish by just 0.002 seconds, which still stands today as the smallest margin of victory in NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series history, while also, he became the last person to win in a Pontiac as Pontiac would leave NASCAR at the end of the year. Craven failed to win races again that season and dropped 12 spots in the points standings to 27th due to a series of DNF's.

In 2004, Craven did not run well, unable to nab a single Top 10 finish through the first 24 races. Due to lack of results, he was replaced by Bobby Hamilton Jr.,and only returned to run one more race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his home track. Later at the 2004 EA Sports 500, Craven drove in a development car for Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 11 Chevrolet, finishing 30th.

### 2005: Petty Enterprises

In 2005, Petty Enterprises announced Craven would take over the legendary no.43 Dodge Charger for the season, replacing previous driver Johnny Benson Jr. However struggled as he failed to finish in the Top 10 the entire year, with his best finish being 11th in the Coca-Cola 600. Cravens's 29th-place finish in standings led to Petty Enterprises announcing he would be gone from the team at the end of the year.

### 2006: Final Career Starts

In August 2006, Craven was announced to drive the no.19 Evernham Motorsports Dodge for the remainder of the 2006 season, replacing Jeremy Mayfield after Mayfield was fired from the team. Craven only had six top twenties and four DNF's. Craven was then replaced by Elliott Sadler, beginning in 2007. His 36th place finish in the 2006 Ford 400, was his last career start, finishing in the said position after an engine failure.