LOUDON, N.H. – Even though he was just dealt another bad hand in a forgettable season, Newburgh’s Ricky Craven was upbeat after qualifying was rained out for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 Nextel Cup race.

It will be Craven’s final ride in the No. 32 Tide Chevy and he will have to start 35th based on owner points. Craven and PPI Motorsports team owner Cal Wells III decided in July to part ways and Craven announced 21/2 weeks ago he was stepping down immediately to give successor Bobby Hamilton Jr. seat time in preparation for next season.

Craven has always qualified well at NHIS.

His average starting spot in 16 previous Cup races at New Hampshire International Speedway, which he considers his “home track,” has been 12th.

But Craven did qualify ninth for the Sylvania 200 Craftsman Truck Series race that will mark his truck race debut.

“Tomorrow [Saturday] is going to be a lot of fun. I had a lot of fun in the truck today,” said the 38-year-old Craven. “It went well. The Tide Ride Sunday will be our last. There will be a lot of emotions. But it’s real important for me to have a good run. I want to run well. We tried real hard today. The rain obviously affected that.

“There will be closure. Sunday afternoon it will be over and it’ll be a relief in some respects. I’m excited about the future, but it’s hard when you have some unfinished business. And that’s really what this weekend represents.”

Craven has qualified in the top 10 eight times at NHIS, including 10th in the Siemens 300 on July 25, and his previous worst starting position has been 27th in 1999 when he was driving the Midwest Transit Chevy.

“We’ve got the numbers working for us [in qualifying]. It would have been OK. But it’s not the end of the world,” said Craven. “It’s certainly the harder way of doing things, but it’s not the end of the world.”

“I’m looking forward to the whole weekend. How can I come to New Hampshire and not be excited about it?” asked Craven, who was running 34th in points when he turned the car over to Hamilton.

Jeff Gordon will begin the 10-race chase for the championship on the pole with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson alongside him. The other title contenders, in order, will be Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, and Ryan Newman.

The race will start at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Santerre qualifies 11th

Cherryfield’s Andy Santerre, the defending two-time Busch North series champ and current points leader, qualified 11th for the Sylvania 125 on Saturday afternoon at NHIS. His closest competitor, Mike Olsen of North Haverhill, N.H., qualified 17th.

Scarborough’s Kelly Moore, who is third in points, will start fifth and his son, Ryan, will starth ninth.

Sanford’s Mike Gallo will start second, Yarmouth’s Billy Penfold will go off 26th, and Strong’s Tracy Gordon qualified 28th in the 39-car field.

In the Sylvania 200 Craftsman Truck series race, in addition to Craven, who will start ninth, Denny Hamlin will start 19th in the Joe Gibbs Performance, Decoma and Team EJP Chevy. Team EJP (Prescott) is based in Gardiner.

Petty uncertain of new system

Richard Petty, who owns the most career wins (200), single-season wins (27), and consecutive wins (10) in Nextel (Winston) Cup history, has mixed emotions about the new points system which will see just the top 10 drivers after the first 26 races in the chase for the points title.

“It has caused a lot of excitement, hasn’t it? For the general public that’s not the true NASCAR fans, I think it’s good,” said Petty, 10-time points champion and owner of Petty Enterprises. “For the guys who have been looking at it for 55 years, with it being an all-year deal, they don’t like it too well. For the new crowd coming through and moving up a notch, I think it’s going to be OK. I really do.”

What Petty doesn’t like with the old and new points system is the awarding of five bonus points for leading a lap and 10 for leading the most laps.