Engine failure again plagues Maine’s Craven

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Newburgh native Ricky Craven’s attempt to notch a third consecutive top 10 NASCAR Winston Cup series finish was ruined by a broken transmission linkage on lap 67 of the 90-lap Global Crossing at The Glen Sunday, according to the PPI-Racing Motorsports team’s Web site.

Craven, who was leading the race at the time in his Tide No. 32 Ford Taurus, wound up 35th.

It was the second time in four races a late engine malfunction cost Craven a possible top-10 finish.

A month ago, during the New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Craven was running third with 76 laps to go when a broken camshaft resulted in a 38th-place finish.

Craven had used a provisional and started 40th in Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen but moved up 10 positions within the race’s first 18 laps.

Due to the race’s varied pit cycles, Craven’s position fluctuated from 28th to seventh over the next 22 laps.

The leaders took their final green-flag pit stops on lap 52 and Craven stayed out and took over the lead on lap 63. He led for four laps before informing crew chief Mike Beam that something had broken in the car creating problems with third gear.

Making the day even more frustrating for the Tide team was the fact Dale Jarrett had slid into the gravel which brought out a caution flag on lap 67.

So, Craven could have headed to the pits for tires and fuel necessary to finish the race. His tires would have been fresher than the leaders’ so he could have made up ground over the remainder of the race.

Instead, Beam called Craven to the pits four more times over the remaining 27 laps to rectify the gear trouble. He finished two laps back.

Craven, whose Tide team was joined by associate sponsor Tops Markets Inc., a New York-based food retailer, for the Watkins Glen race, is tied with Dave Blaney for 26th in the Winston Cup points standings.

He is just 27 points behind former Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte, who is in 25th place.

Craven has seven top-20s in 22 races and four top 10s. He was 10th in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono two weeks ago and ninth at the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis nine days ago.

He also has seven finishes of 35th or worse.

His average finish is 25.5 and his average start is 23.5.

He has run 5414 laps and has earned $1,139,219.

Next up for Craven and the rest of the Winston Cup drivers is the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday afternoon.