On April 28, 1996, a 14-car crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway sent one car careening into the air, flipping several times before landing and sliding across the track.

Anyone who saw the disintegrating car figured the driver would be lucky to come out alive.

Newburgh’s Ricky Craven was the driver in that airborne Kodiak Chevy Monte Carlo and he did survive. He was airlifted to a hospital and was listed in stable condition in the intensive care unit.

Craven returned to racing shortly afterward and, later that year, signed with the lucrative and highly successful Rick Hendrick Motorsports Team.

A small-town boy from Newburgh, Maine, had bucked the odds and made the big time. Then, in his first race for Hendrick Motorsports, he finished third behind teammates Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte across the finish line at the prestigious Daytona 500.

How could life be any better for someone who began dreaming about being a Winston Cup driver when he was 15?

But life is unpredictable.

Nineteen months later, he was without a ride.

The up-and-comer was a down-and-outer.

Craven has never explained what really did happen between him and management at Hendrick Motorsports.

Speculation surfaced that there was dissension in the ranks. But driving a race car is Craven’s life.

He filled in for the injured Ernie Irvan and Craven’s next two race teams were fledgling programs (SB III and Midwest Transit) whose budgets couldn’t hold a candle to Hendrick Motorsports.

And since they were new, there were no provisionals available.

So Craven had a challenge just to qualify their cars, but he learned.

He qualified for 12 of 13 races with SB III before they released him. He ran 12 races for Midwest Transit later during the 1999 season and made 16 starts for Midwest Transit a year ago. They didn’t even try to qualify for several races because they didn’t have a race car.

But Craven learned how to take inferior race cars and teams and get the most out of them. That’s the sign of a good driver.

Then came the Tide ride.

Cal Wells III came over from the CART series a year ago and wound up firing Scott Pruett, who had just one top-10 finish in 28 races for Wells.

He did his homework on Craven, decided that he wasn’t damaged goods as some thought, and his confidence in Craven paid the ultimate divdend: Monday’s Winston Cup triumph in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway (Va.).

You have to tip your hat to Craven for his perseverance and to Wells for giving him the chance.

Craven has always epitomized the Maine work ethic and resolve.

Going from the penthouse (Hendrick Motorsports) to the outhouse can be devastating, especially when you begin your career in the rural environs of Maine.

But Craven has always believed in his abilities. He always knew that, when given the chance to prove himself, he would succeed.

He could have gone back to Busch Grand National when times were tough but Craven wasn’t going to return to the minor leagues unless it was necessary.

He hadn’t won in 144 races entering this season but he told anyone who would listen that he thought he could win a race this season.

By winning a Winston Cup race, he has joined an elite club. He has broken through.

The announcer who kept calling him Ricky Rudd after the race won’t make that mistake again.

His next test will be to become a consistent contender and try to claw his way into the top 20 in points over the final six races. He is 22nd but will pass the injured Steve Park in 21st.

Larry Mahoney’s Touching Base Column is published each Wednesday. He can be contacted at 1-800-310-8600, 990-8231 or via e-mail at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.