Craven has his best shot to reach top

The owner is in place. So is the crew chief. Four cars are ready to go, and at least six more will be built. Now it is all up to Newburgh’s Ricky Craven.

The post-concussion syndrome that sidelined Maine’s only NASCAR Winston Cup driver for four months earlier this year is behind him.

He has proven that the timidity that creeps into the psyche of an athlete who has been seriously injured isn’t a factor any more.

By joining a new team and starting a challenging new venture, he can forget about the past, particularly the unpleasant circumstances that led to his resignation from the Hendrick Motorsports team on Aug. 11.

His new team has been formed by owner Scott Barbour, chairman and CEO of a Florida company that sells jet engines and jet engine parts.

Barbour, like Craven, is fulfilling a lifelong dream, and they will work tirelessly to be successful.

The fact Barbour wanted Craven behind the wheel of his Pittsburgh Steelers-motivated Black and Gold Jack Lambert No. 58 car should bolster Craven’s confidence.

Lambert is the Steelers’ Hall-of-Fame linebacker.

Craven will also benefit from the fact crew chief Mike Hillman has a lot of experience, two Winston Cup wins, and, as he told NASCAR Winston Cup Scene magazine, an open mind toward Craven’s desire to get involved with every aspect of the team.

In fact, Hillman told the magazine’s Deb Williams, “That’s the way we can build the harmony. I really didn’t want a driver who showed up on Friday and went home on Sunday night any more. I wanted to be able to build a better relationship.”

Craven had the input he desired with his first NASCAR team, Larry Hedrick’s No. 41 Kodiak team, but didn’t have the resources to consistently dent the top 10.

With the Hendrick Motorsports Team, Craven had the resources to run up front, but he didn’t have the input, especially after he returned from his four-month hiatus.

He was also the third man on the Hendrick totem pole behind Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte.

Now he’s No. 1.

Craven needs to have input.

He has his own Busch Grand National team and growing up around the tracks in Maine requires you to know something about everything involved with your race team.

In his four years on the Winston Cup tour, Craven has run respectably.

If you eliminate the seven stars of the Winston Cup series, present and past (namely Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Labonte, Rusty Wallace, and Darrell Waltrip), the rest of the drivers on tour entered this current season averaging a top-10 finish in 24.9 percent of their races.

Currently, Craven is averaging a top-10 spot in 17.3 percent of his races.

But Winston Cup is not solely about racing.

It is a billion-dollar business, and that means sponsors and the heads of big business involved in the sport need to be courted.

Craven is certainly good at hobnobbing with those types of people. He is articulate and has a wide range of interests.

Being the only Mainer and one of few New England drivers also helps to give him a uniqueness and marketability in a sport dominated by southerners.

He has exactly what he wants now: input and resources.

It is now time for him to prove that he can run consistently in the top 10.

Larry Mahoney is a NEWS’ sportswriter.