Newburgh native Ricky Craven has a special place in his heart for Canada.

That is why he answered the call to race in Saturday night’s IWK 250 Pro All-Stars Series North Super Late Model race at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

“The biggest reason I’m doing this is because my early days of racing brought me to Canada and I wanted to race in Canada again,” said Craven, who has fond memories of his days racing north of the border.

“This is a really good opportunity,” said Craven, who hasn’t raced full time since the 2005 season when he ran for Roush Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series.

He said his latest mindset is based on, “spending more time doing things I want to do. This is something I want to do.”

Craven has had a chance to spend more time with his family and that is another thing he had wanted to do when he stepped out of the Roush truck.

The marketing and public relations firm, Performance PR Plus, and their founder and chairman of the board, Ron Miller, were instrumental in his landing the ride, he said.

Craven will join current Nextel Cup rookie and Busch driver Regan Smith in the field. Smith and Craven are replacing Nextel Cup legend Bill Elliott who, according to the Speed51.com Web site, had been scheduled to enter the race but backed out. Smith signed on to run the race and Craven added his name to the list the next day.

Craven had a chance to scout out the banked, one-third-mile oval a year ago with Farmingdale’s Johnny Clark and was impressed.

“It looked like a fabulous facility,” said Craven, who ran just two races a year ago, a Busch race for FitzBradshaw Racing and a start in the TD Banknorth Oxford 250.

He finished 39th and 32nd, respectively.

Of his return to the Oxford 250, he said, “I enjoyed all of it. It just didn’t go as well as I would have liked. That’s the risk you take. That’s why I love competition.”

The 40-year-old Craven does a weekly call-in radio show with John Kernan and also does a weekly show on Yahoosports.com as well as some video streaming.

He said he has some other business interests although he wouldn’t elaborate.

Craven said he hasn’t retired from racing again in the Cup, Busch or Craftsman Truck series.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense to retire and then un-retire six months later,” said Craven who has 278 Nextel Cup starts to his credit with two wins, 17 top-fives and 41 top-10s.

When Craven left Roush Racing, he said he would only return to racing in the Cup, Busch or Truck series if the ride afforded him the opportunity to compete for wins.

He maintains that stance today.

“If it intrigues me, I’ll consider it,” said Craven. “I’m not interested in starting over. I’m not preoccupied with racing full time. I’ve had a good career.”

Craven is “happiest when I’m busy and I’m pretty busy now.”

He knows he will have his hands full this weekend in Nova Scotia.

“It’s going to be difficult. There are going to be a lot of talented drivers there and a lot of the drivers race there every weekend. But I’m looking forward to it,” said Craven, who became the 15th man in history to win a race in the Cup, Busch and NASCAR Craftsman Truck series when he won a truck race at Martinsville in 2005.