He may be returning to his ‘”home” track but Newburgh’s Ricky Craven is bringing something new with him to New Hampshire International Speedway for Sunday’s New England 300 Winston Cup race.

“I’m bringing a brand new car [Tide Ford Taurus]. It has never seen a race,” said the 35-year-old Craven, who is 29th in the Winston Cup points standings. “It was built in-house. It’s a new PPI [Precision Preparation Inc.] 2.0 chassis. I’m excited about that. It could work very, very well. There could be a big payoff.

“But, being a new car, there could also be some gremlins,” warned Craven who has run a half dozen laps in it on a track in Hickory, N.C., to “shake it down.

“This will be a big test for the team in terms of our ability to produce these race cars and the confidence we have in building them. If this works out, there will be a team of people back in Hickory, North Carolina, who have been cranking these cars out [who deserve the credit],” added Craven.

His return to NHIS has been bittersweet since his debut as a Winston Cup driver in 1995.

Two of his three poles as a Bud driver have come at NHIS, 1996 and 1998. The 1998 one was special in that it marked his return to racing after missing four months and 13 races with post-concussion syndrome and an inner ear problem caused by wrecks at Talladega Superspeedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

He qualified 12th and fifth a year ago but finished 36th and 17th, respectively. In 1999, he qualified 27th and 12th and wound up 43rd and 13th.

“I’m really excited. These two races – the New Hampshire 300 will be held on Sept. 16 – are singled out from the rest of the events,” said Craven. “This is almost like paradise. I’m racing at my favorite track, doing what I love to do and I’m among my friends and fans in New England.

“Our expectations are extremely high. That can be dangerous. But this starts the second half of the season and we all want to turn it up a little bit,” Craven added.

As much as he likes the 1.058-mile oval, he says the track tests the drivers.

“It’s a very difficult track because of the technical aspect and how you have to approach it as a driver,” said Craven. “You have to run deep into the corners in turns one and three, wrestle the car to keep it on the bottom of the track and get back on the accelerator as soon as possible.

“Keeping the car on the bottom of the track and then getting back on the accelerator on a flat track is difficult to do. There is a tendency for the back of the car to slide out,” Craven said. “It’s a tough track but you’ve got to get tough right back. It’s a perfect track for New England.”

Craven, who will be looking for his first win in his 163rd Winston Cup race, has five top-20 and two top-10 finishes in 18 races so far this season.

He also has four finishes of 41st or worse.

He is coming off a 21st at the Tropicana 400 at the new Chicagoland Speedway in Illinois. He had qualified 33rd.

“That was a testimony to our never-say-die attitude. The car wasn’t running well at the beginning of the race but we battled back and salvaged a 21st. That’s not what we’re looking for, but 21st on a bad day is acceptable,” said Craven whose average starting position has been 24th and finish has been 26th.

He would like to be doing better in the points but said he is excited about the second half.

“I have a wonderful relationship with my team and our sponsor. I’m having the time of my life. We have run in the top five in nine of our 18 races although we didn’t always finish the job,” said Craven. “If you look between the numbers, we’ve accomplished the most difficult part of this sport: we’ve been able to run fast. But we’ve still got work to do.

“We’d like to be winning every race but this team has been together for only 18 races,” said Craven. “We’re right where we want to be. We have a bright future. I’ve never raced with a finer group of people.

“I’m as relaxed as I’ve ever been. A lot of it comes through the experiences I’ve gone through,” said Craven who hopes to provide PPI-Racing and sponsor Procter and Gamble with a victory on Sunday.

Sunday’s race, which begins at 2 p.m., will not feature restrictor plates, which they had for last September’s Dura-Lube 300. The restrictor plates, which limit horsepower, were implemented as a result of the fallout from the deaths of Kenny Irwin Jr. and Adam Petty earlier in the year at the track.

“I’m glad. If they had restrictor plates this year, I’d be selling hot dogs. I commend them for trying them last year but that was miserable,” said Craven.

Ricky Craven’s racing statistics for NASCAR races held at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, N.H. His average start is 10th and average finish is 27th.

Sept. 17, 2000, Dura-Lube/Kmart 300

Start:12; Finish: 36 (transmission)

July 9, 2000, Thatlook.com 300

Start: 5; Finish:17

Sept. 19, 1999, Dura Lube/Kmart 400

Start: 27; Finish: 43 (accident)

July 11, 1999, Jiffy Lube 300

Start:12; Finish: 13

Aug. 31, 1998, CMT 300

Between rides, did not enter

July 30, 1998, Jiffy Lube 300

Start: 1; Finish: 29

Sept. 14, 1997, CMT 300

Start: 6; Finish: 5

July 14, 1997, Jiffy Lube 300

Start: 3; Finish: 16

July 14, 1996, Jiffy Lube 300

Start: 1; Finish: 26

July 11, 1995, Slick 50 300

Start: 19; Finish: 31