Craven fans crowd autograph session Maine native at Wal-Mart

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BREWER – Ricky Craven may live in North Carolina now but the Newburgh native and NASCAR Winston Cup driver has never forgotten his roots and the primary passion of New England sports fans during the summer months.

“This is the year,” said Craven while signing autographs at the new Brewer Super Wal-Mart Wednesday.

The year?

“The Red Sox are going to do it,” predicted Craven.

He will try to do his part on Monday night when he throws out the first pitch before the Red Sox-Detroit Tigers game at Boston’s Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are looking for their first World Series championship since 1918, 30 years before the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was incorporated.

But those people in the extensive line that weaved throughout the lawn and garden section at the new Brewer Super Wal-Mart weren’t thinking about the Red Sox.

Many of them were wearing either a Ricky Craven Tide No. 32 Pontiac T-shirt or hat. Some wore both.

One man brought a sophisticated wagon/pull-cart with a Tide Pontiac paint scheme.

Craven appears to be as popular as ever.

And he is hoping to begin the second half with a great showing at his home track: New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon on Sunday where they will run the New England 300.

Eastern Maine fans are loyal to Craven and haven’t been disappointed by his struggles in recent weeks.

“Everybody must like him. Look at the all the people here,” said young Taylor Hutchinson.

“He’s doing better than [1999 Winston Cup points champion] Dale Jarrett,” said Diane Klecha of Veazie.

Craven’s first 10 races produced his second career victory and an average finish of 16.1. His last eight races have yielded an average finish of 24.7.

He is 17th in the points standings. Jarrett is 29th.

“He’s done well so far. He’s had some bad breaks the past few weeks,” said Dave Berman of Bangor. “Sooner or later, he’ll get back up there.”

“He’s having his best year yet. He’s in the top 20 in points. He keeps getting better,” said Karl Laurenovics of Milford.

Craven already has three top-five finishes this season. He had seven in his previous two seasons combined.

Robin Bernardini of Hermon added, “Ricky has come a long way [as a driver]. It’s hard when you’re a single-car team. He has a new crew chief [Scott Miller] and a new car [Pontiac after switching over from Fords].”

“He’s doing pretty good,” observed 9-year-old Ben Holmes of Eddington, who was asked what kind of advice he would give Craven.

“I’d like to see him test a little more at the tracks he isn’t good at,” said Holmes.

Several fans said they hoped he would get another lucrative sponsor and a teammate. Craven’s 17th-place standing in the points is the best among single-car teams.

“That will give him someone to draft with at restrictor plate races and someone to share information about testing with,” said Veazie’s Steve Earl.

Each Winston Cup driver is allowed seven tests a year so multi-car teams can share information from the seven tests per driver.

But Dan Fowler of Newburgh said multi-car teams “have their disadvantages, too. I’ve seen teammates not hook up during a race. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

In fact, Robby Gordon passed teammate Kevin Harvick on a yellow to win the Dodge/Save Mart 350 last month.

Bangor’s Greg Good said Craven and his team need to qualify better “because if you start in the back, you can’t make it through all the traffic to get to the front. And more wrecks occur in the back.”

Craven’s average starting position has been 25.6. His average finish has been 19.9.

Peter Hanscom and his nine-year-old daughter, Molly, made the trip from Machias to get Craven’s autograph.

Bangor’s Denny Millar said Craven “needs better engines and better luck. He’s accomplished quite a lot, especially for a northerner [in a sport formerly dominated by southerners]. He works hard at it.”

Fowler and his wife, Kathy, are proud of their hometown boy and his accomplishments.

“We’re going to have a sign in the town to honor him. There are donation cans at the town office,” said Kathy Fowler.