Maine driver hits 188.127 mph in last ride of day

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Ricky Craven, the final driver to make an attempt, knocked sentimental favorite Bill Elliott off the pole Friday in qualifying for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Craven gave second-year Winston Cup owner Cal Wells his first pole with a lap of 188.127 mph, about 3 mph slower than Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s top speed at the track last year. It is Craven’s fourth career pole in 167 Winston Cup races.

“I’ve always enjoyed it here,” Craven said. “I just felt like this was a place where we could turn the corner. And actually the last month we’ve really run well. Every week, I get a car that keeps getting better and better.”

Craven, from Newburgh, Maine,` has been a good qualifier at Michigan International Speedway. This will be his fourth top-five start in the last six Winston Cup races at Michigan. But he never collected a top 10 finish in those three races. He started fifth but finished 35th on June 10 in the Kmart 400.

His average career starting position is a respectable 15th in 10 previous Michigan races and his average finish is 24th. He hasn’t finished higher than 30th in the last three Michigan races.

Elliott, who dominated Michigan in the 1980s with seven wins, went out seventh and ran 187.857. He withstood challenges from Ricky Rudd, a surprising Elliott Sadler and John Andretti before Craven took the top spot.

Elliott, on his way to the interview room when Craven ran his lap, shrugged off losing the pole.

“We’re on the pole, we’re just on the wrong side of it,” he joked. “Qualifying is over with and we’ll worry about the race Sunday. That’s the main objective now. Whether you’re on the pole or 39th or 43rd, the next objective is to run well Sunday.”

He’s been a fan favorite at Michigan since his heyday driving for local business owner Harry Melling. The fans cheered loudly when Elliott’s time was announced, and even louder when he exited his car on pit road after his lap.

Still, he got beat.

“I thought he was going to do it,” Elliott said of Rudd. “Everybody’s got good equipment. If you hit it just right and get the combination right, and anybody’s got the potential to do it.”

Rudd wound up third, followed by Sadler and Andretti. Points leader Jeff Gordon, who has won two straight races, qualified 13th.

“I knew it was the best lap I’d run all day,” said Gordon, who also won here in June. “It’s the same car we had here last time, but it didn’t seem like it was as fast. If we can keep it running the whole race, we’ll be satisfied.”

Craven has slowly rebuilt his career since being released by Hendrick Motorsports in 1998. He was without a full-time ride the past two seasons and joined Wells late in the off-season. Although he sits 26th in points, Craven has two top-10 finishes in the past three races.

But he struggled in the 2-hour practice, posting only the 24th-best speed.

“The first hour of practice wasn’t a lot of fun,” he said. “The second hour was better, and then qualifying was perfect.”

He was particularly happy with being able to hold on through the final two turns.

“I just knew 1 and 2 were fast,” he said. “I jumped back on the gas in 3 and 4 and it kind of got away from me. But I really felt like it was top five because I had so much momentum.”

Rudd, in second place, 194 points behind Gordon in the standings, had been fastest in practice.

“And we picked up a little bit in qualifying, so you can’t really help but ask for much more than that,” Rudd said.