Those who don’t have the cable TV SpeedChannel network haven’t been able to watch the progress of Newburgh’s Ricky Craven, the former Nextel Cup driver who is running in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the first time this season.

But race fans will be able to listen to Craven’s quest for the points championship beginning on Saturday.

Clear Channel will air the remaining 13 Truck Series races live on radio stations 97.7 and 101.7-FM, The Fox.

Clear Channel already airs Nextel Cup races on The Bear, 104.7-FM, and Busch races are carried on 97.7-FM.

“MRN [Motor Racing Network] offered it to us a couple of weeks ago,” said Bill Butler, program director for 101.7 and 97.7 and the sports director for 104.7. “It is the least appreciated of the [top] three NASCAR series. There had always been a question if there was an audience there. But Craven is the factor that made it so easy to say ‘yes.’ He has such a big fan base in Maine. He has great local appeal.”

Butler said the station has a contract with MRN for the Nextel Cup and Busch series but Craven’s status was up in the air when the one-year deal was negotiated in the off-season so they didn’t acquire the Craftsman Truck series at that time.

Craven and PPI Motorsports owner Cal Wells III decided to part ways last July after an association for 31/2 years that produced two Nextel Cup series wins for the single-car team.

Craven was hired by Roush Racing to drive the 99 Superchips truck and he is currently fifth in points with seven top-10 finishes in 12 races.

Butler said the Nextel Cup and Busch Series are popular on Clear Channel and not just from an audience standpoint. They sell out all of their advertising spots.

“Even if a sponsor with big bucks came along right now, we wouldn’t be able to squeeze them in,” said Butler. “We couldn’t sell out the Patriots games in two of their championship years. We couldn’t sell out Celtics games, either. Auto racing is one of the fastest growing sports in America. And the fans are not only loyal to the drivers, they’re loyal to the brands that sponsor them.”

Clear Channel also carries a bunch of one-hour specials dealing with NASCAR and local racing.

Butler also does a daily racing journal show on six of the eight Clear Channel stations.

The Bar Harbor native and 1992 Mount Desert Island High School graduate hopes Clear Channel airs the entire Craftsman Truck series next season but they’ll have to wait and analyze the ratings and the sponsorship.

“If people show interest in it, it’ll be a no-brainer [to continue it],” said Butler, who is also the track announcer at Hermon’s Speedway 95.

Butler added that he hopes NASCAR pays more attention to the truck series and does a better job publicizing it.

Saturday’s truck race is the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Air time is 7:45 p.m.

Clark one of 25 Roush finalists

Hallowell’s Johnny Clark, the defending Pro All-Stars Series points champion, is one of 25 finalists in the Roush Racing Race for the Ride competition to choose a driver for next year’s Craftsman Truck Series.

There were 1,667 applicants and Clark was informed on Tuesday he will be one of the finalists.

Roush Racing crew chiefs, drivers and other personnel helped select the 25 finalists.

Clark said he is supposed to leave for North Carolina on July 31 and will spend three weeks testing trucks at Martinsville and Darlington.

“Getting a chance to race a truck for a team the caliber of Roush Racing is a dream come true. The perfect dream would be to win the competition and get the truck ride,” said the 25-year-old Clark. “I think all 25 of us will be capable of getting the job done. It’ll come down to who stands out the most.”

He said Craven told him he put in a good word for him and Clark said he would thoroughly enjoy being Craven’s teammate next season if he wins and Craven returns to the truck series.

“What could be better than having a couple of Maine boys racing for Roush,” said Clark.

Retiring Nextel Cup veteran Mark Martin will drive trucks for Roush next year.

The drivers will also be judged on marketability and potential fan appeal and the three-week competition will be taped and televised in a 13-part series on the Discovery Channel in the fall.

He will have his weekends off and he said he intends to return and run PASS races.

“I’m pumped but I’m not going to let it get to me. I still have a job to do. I feel I have a good shot to take the show at Unity on Saturday,” said Clark who is second in the PASS points chase, just six points behind Ben Rowe of Turner.

Clark has won two races this year after taking the checkered flag four times a year ago in his championship run.

He has never driven a Craftsman Truck series truck and hasn’t driven on radial tires since 1995.

“It’ll be different,” said Clark.

Todd Kluever won the Race for the Ride last year and is leading the truck series’ Rookie of the Year points standings.

Clark made it to the final 30 last year and was selected as one of the five alternates.

July 31 is the date of the Oxford Banknorth 250 and Clark indicated he is going to ask Roush if he can fly down after the race so he can participate in it.

Moore to make Busch debut

Scarborough’s Ryan Moore will make his debut in the Busch series when he drives the No. 81 car for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated in the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway on Saturday, July 16.

Tony Eury Sr., Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s former crew chief, will oversee Moore’s team.

Moore is scheduled to run five or six more Busch races for DEI and the former Busch North series Rookie of the Year could be auditioning for a full-time DEI Busch ride next season.

DEI Busch series driver and former Busch North competitor Martin Truex Jr., who won the Busch points title a year ago, will drive a Nextel Cup car for DEI next season and do a couple Busch races.