Craven eager to race> Driver seeking improvements

Newburgh’s Ricky Craven is coming home. Sort of.

Craven will race his Raybestos car in a Busch Grand National North series race at New Hampshire International Speedway on Saturday, the Pennzoil 125, before entering a new Budweiser car in Sunday’s Winston Cup event, the Jiffy Lube 300.

He is halfway through his third season on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit, his first with the Rick Hendrick Budweiser team, and he said he has suffered the ups and downs that go with joining a new team.

“[Crew chief] Andy [Graves] and I are young and we’ve made some mistakes,” said Craven, who is 16th in the money listings with $604,740 but isn’t in the top 20 in driver points. “We’re having some growing pains. But the flip side is we’re gaining momentum and experience. If we remain patient and don’t get frustrated, there will be a big pay off.

“We’re making progress and our plan is to continue to make progress,” added Craven. “We want to establish ourselves as contenders. We want to be in contention each week. We need some top five finishes like we had at the start of the season. If we keep knocking on the door, one week it will be our turn [to win].”

The 31-year-old Craven said he has benefited significantly from being on a Hendrick team with the likes of the last two points champions, Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte. They are currently running one-two in the points.

“There’s no question I’ve been exposed to some great opportunities, some great equipment and great engines,” said Craven. “As a team, we need to get better and better each week. Jeff Gordon has won seven races. We aren’t as good as his team yet and I’m not as good a driver as Jeff. But I believe I will be some day.”

Craven had some bad luck this past Saturday as a piece of debris punctured his radiator resulting in a 37th place finish at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona Beach, Fla. His previous three starts had all resulted in top 20 finishes as he was ninth at the California 500, 18th at the Miller 400 and 16th in the Pocono 500.

He said he has reduced his body fat by three percent as the result of working out with a member of the Carolina Cougar training staff and is completely healed from an April accident at Texas Motor Speedway.

Craven is looking forward to both races this weekend.

“Saturday’s race is more personal for me,” said Craven. “It’s an opportunity for me to race with the old crowd I cut my teeth with, guys like Bobby Dragon, Dave Dion and Kelly Moore. These guys are truly underrated. When I reflect upon my career, some of the great races I’ve been in have involved this crowd. It’s fun once a year to come back and race with the old group again.”

He said it will also be a valuable tool in gauging the track for his Winston Cup race.

Craven said he is looking forward to bringing a new Monte Carlo to Loudon.

“We tested it an Indianapolis and it ran very well,” said Craven, who is also anticipating a home track advantage.

“There isn’t a race that is more important to me than this race this Sunday,” said Craven. “My family will be there and a lot of my friends will be there, people who have helped me get where I’m at. I really get up for the weekend. It should be a great race.”