Craven has solid showing at Loudon> Maine native finishes 13th with new team

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LOUDON, N.H. – Ricky Craven’s face was beet red as he tried to gulp down a Coke while answering the media’s questions.

There were plenty of smiles around the Midwest Transit Inc. Chevy Monte Carlo transporter following Sunday’s Jiffy Lube 300 Winston Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway.

The smiles might have been a tad wider if Newburgh’s Craven hadn’t had to pit for fuel on lap 286.

However, team manager Lake Speed, crew chief John Monsam and Craven were pleased with the 13th place finish.

Jeff Burton won the race for the third consecutive time when rookie Tony Stewart ran out of gas with three laps to go.

“I’m pretty happy,” said Craven, who was driving just his second race for his new team. “We ran in the top 10 until the end. We got snookered on fuel mileage and four or five guys got by us. I wish we could have stayed out. That would have gotten us a sixth or a seventh if we had the fuel. But we didn’t have the fuel.”

Craven said he had a “very good car.

“I knew we had the potential to run well today,” said the 33-year-old Craven, who collected $40,375 for his best finish of the season. “We couldn’t beat guys like (Dale) Jarrett and (Jeff) Gordon but I was able to run with them.”

Monsam noted that “we had to make only one adjustment all afternoon” and labeled the performance turned in by Craven and the crew as “phenomenal.”

Speed said the team far exceeded expectations and surprised people.

“This crew had never even done a pit stop (in a Winston Cup race) until today,” pointed out Speed. “Everybody did a tremendous job.”

Craven, who finished just 34 laps at Daytona week ago due to a steering problem, agreed.

“I was impressed by the pit stops. Our crew certainly isn’t short on work ethic. It’s just short on experience right now,” said Craven who also praised Monsam and shock-chassis man Bobby Hayden for supplying him with a good setup for the car.

“This was a team effort,” added Craven.

Craven qualified in the 12th spot and, just three laps into the race, he had moved up to 10th.

On a 78th lap pit stop, Craven ironically got sandwiched and bumped by his two former cars, the Budweiser 25 of Wally Dallenbach and Turbine Solutions 58 of Hut Stricklin coming out of the pits.

He came out 16th but, 34 laps later, he had moved up to 10th.

Craven climbed as high as sixth and never dropped below 12th until he pitted with 14 laps remaining.

Craven still hasn’t signed a contract with the team but said he isn’t concerned and expects to run the remainder of the season with them.

“There’s no sense to ruin a good thing,” said Craven.

Craven, Speed and Monsam agreed that Sunday’s performance can only be a plus for the team, which was reorganized three months ago when Speed was hired.

“This will give us a shot in the arm. This gives us something to build on,” said Craven.

Speed said, “We’ve proven that we’re a very legitimate race team. This helps everything out.”

Craven said racing for owners Hal Hicks and Mike Witters reminds of his days racing the Budweiser car for the Hendrick family.

“We’ve got the engines and the cars. And I’ve never worked for better owners,” said Craven. “They hire everybody we need and leave them alone. They come and participate. They’re cheerleaders.”

Perhaps an omen of the good things to come occurred during pre-race introductions when Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Ted Williams stepped onto the podium. He was the grand marshall of the race. Craven and Monsam are die-hard Red Sox fans.

“I wish I could have met him,” said Connecticut native Monsam. “Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski were IT for me. I don’t know how many times I’ve read (Williams’) Science of Hitting.”

Jiffy Lube 300

LOUDON, N.H. – Results Sunday of the Jiffy Lube 300 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at the New Hampshire International Speedway with starting position in parentheses, hometown, type of car, laps completed, reason out, if any, and earnings:

1. (38) Jeff Burton, Ford, 300, $139,490; 2. (6) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 300, $95,400; 3. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 300, $97,050; 4. (9) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 300, $75,550; 5. (40) Bill Elliott, Ford, 300, $63,815; 6. (37) Mark Martin, Ford, 300, $68,400; 7. (21) Wally Dallenbach, Chevrolet, 300, $54,875; 8. (14) Dale Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 300, $56,675; 9. (29) Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 300, $57,275; 10. (10) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 300, $55,715; 11. (18) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 300, $56,175; 12. (11) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 300, $51,775; 13. (12) Ricky Craven, Newburgh, Chevrolet, 300, $40,375; 14. (28) Rich Bickle, Pontiac, 300, $44,275; 15. (22) Ward Burton, Pontiac, 300, $52,815; 16. (39) Bobby Hamilton, Chevrolet, 300, $55,875; 17. (27) Johnny Benson, Ford, 300, $50,850; 18. (7) John Andretti, Pontiac, 299, $66,900; 19. (8) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 299, $49,950; 20. (33) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 299, $53,465; 21. (20) Ernie Irvan, Pontiac, 299, $49,425; 22. (42) Kevin Lepage, Ford, 299, $49,575; 23. (19) Mike Skinner, Chevrolet, 299, $48,925; 24. (41) Chad Little, Ford, 298, $48,675; 25. (43) Ted Musgrave, Ford, 298, $41,725; 26. (23) Kenny Irwin, Ford, 298, $48,475; 27. (26) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 298, $48,000; 28. (31) Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 297, $52,850; 29. (30) Dick Trickle, Chevrolet, 297, $37,700; 30. (25) Rick Mast, Ford, 297, $40,300; 31. (36) Brett Bodine, Ford, 297, $44,450; 32. (35) Geoffrey Bodine, Chevrolet, 295, $37,325; 33. (24) Darrell Waltrip, Ford, 295, $37,200; 34. (16) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 293, $44,075; 35. (4) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 288, $43,950; 36. (15) Jerry Nadeau, Ford, 285, $37,325; 37. (17) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 260, $43,700; 38. (3) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 222, $58,300; 39. (32) Hut Stricklin, Ford, 193, engine failure, $36,575; 40. (34) Dave Blaney,Pontiac, 193, crash, $36,550; 41. (5) Kyle Petty, Pontiac, 190, rear end, $36,525; 42. (2) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 144, crash, $55,000; 43. (13) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 44, ignition, $36,475

Race Statistics

Time of Race-3 hours, 6 minutes, 56 seconds; Margin of Victory-1.347 seconds; Average Speed-101.876 mph; Lead Changes-9 among 6 drivers; Caution laps-7 for 51 laps; Lap Leaders-Jeff Gordon 1-19, Bobby Labonte 20-64, Tony Stewart 65-79, Gordon 80-112, Labonte 113-115, Dale Jarrett 116-133, Gordon 134-135, John Andretti 136-195, Stewart 196-298, Jeff Burton 299-300 Point Leaders

Dale Jarrett, 2839; Jeff Burton, 2599; Mark Martin, 2590; Bobby Labonte, 2551; Jeff Gordon, 2450; Tony Stewart, 2405; Dale Earnhardt, 2324; Ward Burton, 2141; Terry Labonte, 2098; Jeremy Mayfield, 2097