Craven poised for Pocono Engine troubles plagued June run

HICKORY, N.C. – Ricky Craven, driver of the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, returns to Pocono Raceway this weekend for his 15th NASCAR Cup race at the uniquely shaped track.

Coming off a solid qualifying effort last week at New Hampshire International Speedway, the Tide team is looking forward to Friday afternoon’s Nextel Cup qualifying for the Pennsylvania 500.

Many teams had problems with engines during the June race at Pocono, including Craven, who finished 34th. Despite that finish, Craven doesn’t expect to do anything differently in Sunday’s return to the 2.5-mile tri-oval.

“I’ll drive the same way I always have,” he said. “A few years ago at Pocono, I missed a shift and blew the engine. I felt really, really bad. I drove to the shop in Hickory the next day and apologized to the team because it was a driver error.

“At the race earlier this year at Pocono, it was just an engine failure. The days of being conservative are gone. If you are conservative, you are going to get beat and get beat bad. We’re going to have to go there, muscle up and run it hard, but I have confidence in the guys and believe they can do it.”

With Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s recent fiery crash at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., there has been much discussion in Nextel Cup circles regarding fire safety.

“My team protects me well with all the essentials,” Craven said. “It would be wise to wear the protective underwear, but I haven’t before due to the heat.”

Crew chief Mike Beam says Craven and the other drivers should take all necessary precautions to protect themselves.

“I think the first thing the drivers need to do is to wear all the safety equipment they can like the open-wheel drivers do,” Beam said. “I’ve seen some drivers race without gloves on. I really feel they need to take responsibility for themselves.”

Earnhardt Jr. is expected to return to the No. 8 Budweiser Chevy for fulltime duty this weekend.

“I haven’t talked to Dale Jr. to see some of the challenges he had with his wreck in Sonoma,” said Craven. “It was a severe fire, so sometimes it is nice to talk about those situations to educate yourself. I’m glad he’s OK and look forward to him being back and well as soon as possible.”