New car, new crew chief, new race engineer, new engine program.

The scenery at PPI Motorsports has been altered but Newburgh’s Ricky Craven is optimistic as he begins his third season driving for Cal Wells III.

The Tide No. 32 Ford Taurus is now a Pontiac; Scott Miller has replaced Mike Beam as the crew chief; Kent Day has taken Roy McCauley’s spot as race engineer and PPI Motorsports will build the engines for Tide Pontiacs for the first time.

The exception will be the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega. Richard Childress Racing will provide the engines for those races.

The 36-year-old Craven is starting his ninth NASCAR season after a career-best 15th- place finish in the Winston Cup points standings last year.

His previous best was a 19th when he was driving a Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports in 1997.

“We’re coming into the season with the attitude that we were 15th last year and we want to move forward,” said Craven who went on to use a football analogy in discussing the upcoming season.

“What people don’t realize is that this will be my third year with the same road crew, guys I would describe as the front [offensive] line of the race team,” said Craven. “These guys protect the quarterback, these are the guys who can establish the running game because of what they do mechanically in terms of maintenance and preparation.

“I haven’t had that in a long time. That’s a great value,” said Craven.

He explained that an NFL quarterback doesn’t necessarily become the highest rated passer in the league because he can throw the ball better than the other quarterbacks..

“It’s because he has been given time to throw. He has been given the security of not having to scramble every play,” added Craven. “You can’t win a championship or a Super Bowl without them. Because of them, we are a better race team.”

His road crew is the group of guys who prepare the car during the week and then travel to the race site to work on it.

“Getting the car through inspection is such an important element of what we do. These guys have to work together,” said Craven.

In addition, he will also have stability on his pit crew. With the exception of one tire carrier, the crew returns intact.

But the team will have to overcome some obstacles.

First of all, they will have to adjust to Pontiacs.

Second, they are still a one-car race team.

They were the top finisher among one-car teams a year ago but it is definitely a handicap.

It is difficult to find draft partners and they don’t get the opportunity to compare notes with a teammate.

Plus, since they are limited to the one-car testing allotment, they won’t have the chance to analyze a teammate’s test and share data with them.

Still, the team has shown significant progress.

Two years ago, in his first full season with PPI Motorsports, Craven had seven Top-10 finishes including his only career Winston Cup victory at the Old Dominion 500 in Martinsville, Va. He had 12 Top-15s and 13 Top-20s.

However, he also had 14 finishes of 30th or worse.

He finished 21st in points.

Last season, although he didn’t win a race, Craven had nine Top-10s, 15 Top-15s and 23 Top-20s.

And he had only nine finishes of 30th or worse.

He won two poles last year after notching four in his previous seven seasons combined. He had one pole in 2001.

“Things have gone very well,” said Craven. “Scott [Miller] has been enjoyable to work with. He was with our team in 2001 so I don’t anticipate that [adjustment] being very difficult.”

Miller worked with driver Andy Houston’s McDonald’s race team under the PPI Motorsports umbrella in 2001. That team was shut down late in the year.

“It’s a risk vs. reward type of scenario. We’re takings risks in making these changes but the rewards could be outstanding,” Craven said. “The greatest challenge will be the engine program and that has come so far in such a short time. They’ve been doing a very good job.”

Craven has tested the Pontiacs and then he finished 10th in the 19-car Budweiser Shootout in his Pontiac race debut on Saturday night. His Pontiac was 15th fastest in qualifying for Sunday’s Daytona 500 on Monday so he will get a good starting spot in one of the Twin 125 races on Thursday.

Craven, who had driven Chevys before changing to Fords when he joined PPI Motorsports, led the way among the six Pontiacs in Daytona 500 qualifying.

He has been pleased with the Pontiacs.

“They feel good. We’ve got some work to do for them to be very good race cars. But we’re talking about a company that is used to winning. Pontiacs won two of the last three points championships,” said Craven, referring to Bobby Labonte in 2000 and Tony Stewart last season.

He said there is a noticeable difference between the Pontiacs and Fords.

“There’s more weight on the front of a Pontiac. It is more aerodynamically balanced,” said Craven. “That helps me. It’s a perfect prescription.”

He will begin the season without any specific goals.

“I’m not sure what’s realistic but I know expectations are to get better and it doesn’t get any easier,” said Craven. “Our reward last year was we had our best year ever.

“We’re all very realistic. We’ve made changes for the long term. We want to get better but how we measure that isn’t necessarily by points. It’s by getting our Pontiac into Victory Lane,” said Craven.

Craven said one aspect he would like to improve is his performance on the two road courses at Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Sonoma, Calif.

His average finish has been 26th.

“With the exception of those two races, we ran in the top 10 in every other event at some point in the race,” said Craven. “I finished in the top 10 at Watkins Glen my rookie season [1995] but I haven’t done so [on a road course] since.

“We’ve been a contender at the other events. I’m proud of the fact we’ve led every one of the four Martinsville races in the Tide car and put ourselves in position to win three of the four,” said Craven. “And we’ve run so well at places like Rockingham, Charlotte and Darlington.”

Another positive entering the season will be Craven’s health. He has managed to avoid injury the last two seasons after post-concussion syndrome and an inner ear problem headlined a list of injuries that marred his career in the mid to late 1990s.

“Certainly having two healthy seasons has been helpful,” said Craven, who works our regularly. “I feel very good. Injuries are so disruptive.”

His enthusiasm for racing is as high as ever.

“I’m very excited. I said last year that I expect the next five years to be the best of my career. Last year was my best and I feel the same way about the next four,” said Craven, the 1995 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year.

And he can’t wait until Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“It’s my favorite,” he said. “This is the most excited I’ve been about this particular race. We know we have some challenges going into the season but they are equal to the rewards. It can be a very rewarding season because of the changes we made.”