A new phase begins in the career of Newburgh’s Ricky Craven on Friday night. The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway kicks off the 25-race NASCAR Craftsman Truck series.

Craven’s Nextel Cup career has had its share of ups and downs.

The “ups” would include his two Nextel Cup victories at Martinsville and Darlington and his career-best 15th-place finish in the 2002 points.

His “downs” would include being released by Hendrick Motorsports; his nightmarish season with under-funded SBIII and the demise of PPI Motorsports after their successful run together.

PPI Motorsports went from one of the sport’s feel-good stories: A single-car team beating the odds to run competitively against the multi-car conglomerates, to a tale of woe about ill-advised decisions that transformed his single-car team from a contender to a pretender. The Tide No. 32 went from “Life in the Fast Lane” to the “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” PPI Motorsports team owner and president Cal Wells III is a class act. There weren’t many welcome wagons when Wells made the jump from CART to Nextel Cup racing. But Wells and Craven overachieved together until the fledgling PPI Motorsports engine program digressed steadily after a promising start. That ultimately led to Craven’s decision to leave the team last July.

He was tired of being a field-filler.

Craven is now with one of the Nextel Cup’s best organizations, Jack Roush Racing, and he will debut in the No. 99 Superchips Ford-150.

He has a teammate in rookie Todd Kluever, who will be driving the No. 50 Ford-150. That has been a rare luxury for Craven throughout his career. Teammates have been few and far between.

Craven knows expectations are high.

Jack Roush has back-to-back Nextel Cup championships. Matt Kenseth won in 2003 and Kurt Busch captured the points crown last season.

Roush wants a truck championship and has enlisted the services of Craven to claim one.

The 38-year-old Craven must produce. If he is to return to Nextel Cup racing, he has to finish in the top five in points and he has to win races.

Three or more trips to Victory Lane would spice up his resume and significantly improve his chances of climbing into a Nextel Cup car in 2006.

It won’t be easy.

The series has gotten more competitive every season.

There are several former prominent Nextel Cup drivers running in the series including Bobby Hamilton, who won the trucks points championship last season.

Craven should have top-notch equipment. Close friend Mike Beam will be his crew chief as he was with the Tide No. 32.

He will have a healthier frame of mind and more confidence than he had at the end of his tenure with PPI Motorsports. There is nothing worse than climbing into a car knowing you aren’t going to win and that you have virtually no chance to annex a top-five finish.

He will run up front again.

He will have the opportunity to prove he belongs in a Nextel Cup car.

That’s all anyone can ask for.

It is a performance industry. You perform, you move up the ladder.

If you don’t, move aside. There’s someone in the on-deck circle.

It’s up to him.

Larry Mahoney can be reached at 990-8231, 1-800-310-8600 or by email at lmahoney@bangordailynews.net.