Ricky Craven

Ricky Craven
Craven in 1997
BornRichard Allen Craven
(1966-05-24) May 24, 1966 (age 57)
Newburgh, Maine, U.S.
Achievements1991 Busch North Series Champion
Awards1981 Unity Raceway Rookie of the Year
1990 Busch North Series Rookie of the Year
1990, 1991 Busch North Series Most Popular Driver
1992 Busch Series Rookie of the Year
1995 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
278 races run over 11 years
Best finish15th (2002)
First race1991 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last race2004 EA Sports 500 (Talladega)
First win2001 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
Last win2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers' 400 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
2 41 6
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
142 races run over 14 years
Best finish2nd (1993, 1994)
First race1986 Oxford 250 (Oxford)
Last race2006 Goody's 250 (Martinsville)
First win1991 True Value 250 (Oxford)
Last win1994 Meridian Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Wins Top tens Poles
4 57 7
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
26 races run over 2 years
Best finish14th (2005)
First race2004 Sylvania 200 Presented By Lowe's (Loudon)
Last race2005 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win2005 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 9 0
Statistics current as of December 2, 2012.

Richard Allen Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing analyst and former driver. Prior to his broadcasting duties, he was a NASCAR driver who won in four different series—the K&N Pro Series, and the three national series.

He occasionally served as a pit reporter when NASCAR aired on TBS in the mid-1990s. Craven is perhaps most well known for winning the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, beating Kurt Busch in the closest finish in Cup Series history.

Personal

Craven graduated from Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine.

Racing career

Beginnings

Craven began racing at the age of 15 at Unity Raceway, winning twice as well as the Rookie of the Year award. The next year, he won 12 feature events and the track championship. In 1984, Craven raced at Wiscasset Speedway in the Late Model Division; in this year he won the track championship along with the Rookie of the Year title. After that, he began running in the American Canadian Tour, where he had rampant success. In 1986, he made his NASCAR debut at Oxford Plains Speedway in his own No. 12, finishing 25th after suffering an engine failure. Four years later, he began running the Busch North Series, winning the Rookie of the Year award. In 1991, he was named the champion in that series, winning ten times in the No. 25 Chevrolet, with two of those ten wins in "combination" races with the Busch Grand National Series, including the prestigious Oxford 250. In addition, he made his Winston Cup debut at Rockingham, starting and finishing 34th for Dick Moroso. He moved to the Busch Series full-time in 1992 in the No. 99 Chevy for Bill Papke, and once again was named Rookie of the Year. In 1993 and 1994, he finished runner-up to Steve Grissom and David Green, respectively, in the championship standings. On October 9, 1994, Craven would serve as a pit reporter for TBS's broadcast of that year's Mello Yello 500, serving as a precursor to his broadcasting career.

1995–1998

Craven's 1997 race car

In 1995, Craven teamed up with Larry Hedrick Motorsports and Kodiak to run for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. Craven qualified for all 31 races, finished in the Top 10 four times, and defeated Robert Pressley for the top rookie award. For his efforts, he was rewarded with a partial ownership share in the team. He began 1996 with three consecutive Top 10 finishes and his first career pole. He was fourth in points before the Winston Select 500, during which he was involved in a multi-car wreck. On lap 130, his car was launched into the air and impacted with the catch fence above the wall before being thrown back onto the track and hit by another car. This crash was similar[citation needed] to Jimmy Horton's barrel roll in 1993 where he cleared the track. Craven's flip completely sheared the catchfence off the turn and NASCAR threw a lengthy red flag to make repairs. He walked away, but fell to twentieth in points and only had one Top 5 finish and one pole for the rest of the season

At the end of the year, Craven left Hedrick to drive the No. 25 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. Craven finished in the Top 5 in the first two races of the season. He finished third in the 1997 Daytona 500 behind his teammates Terry Labonte in second and Jeff Gordon in first giving Hendrick Motorsports a 1-2-3 sweep of the Daytona 500. While practicing for the inaugural Interstate Batteries 500, Craven crashed hard into the wall. He missed two races due to a concussion suffered from the wreck. Upon his return, he won the Winston Open and finished a then-career-best 19th in points and a total of $1,139,860 in winnings for 1997. After the 1998 season started, the side effects of the concussion began to appear, and Craven was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, and was forced to miss several races until he recovered. He returned at his home track at New Hampshire International Speedway later that year won the pole. After four races, he was released permanently from Hendrick, and did not return until the final three races of the season, filling in for Ernie Irvan at MB2 Motorsports.

1999–2006

For 1999, Craven signed on to drive the No. 58 Ford Taurus for Scott Barbour's SBIII Motorsports, a brand new team in NASCAR. He did not finish any better than 19th while driving the car and after he failed to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600, he was replaced by Loy Allen Jr. Several weeks later, he signed up with another new team Midwest Transit Racing, replacing rookie Dan Pardus in the No. 50 and finished the season with them. Craven returned to the team in 2000 but after failing to qualify for four of the first nine races of the season, the team switched to a part-time schedule. Following this decision, Craven had four Top 20 finishes but finished 44th in points.

In January the next year, it was announced that Craven would replace Scott Pruett in PPI Motorsports's No. 32 Ford. He won the pole in the summer race at Michigan International Speedway and in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville Speedway, he held off Dale Jarrett in the closing laps for his first career Winston Cup win. In 2002, he won two poles, scored nine Top 10 finishes, and finished a career-best 15th in points. In 2003, his team switched from Ford to Pontiac, providing the No. 32 car with a factory-backed engine program. In the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, he battled Kurt Busch for the win, defeating him by .002 seconds in what was voted in December 2009 as the "Finish of the 2000s" in the Sprint Cup Series. In that race, he became the last person to win in a Pontiac. Craven failed to win races again that season and dropped 12 spots in the points standings. After he did not post a single Top 10 finish three-quarters of the way through 2004, he was replaced by Bobby Hamilton Jr., and only returned to run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his home track. His last Cup start was the 2004 EA Sports 500 at Talladega, where he drove in a development car for Joe Gibbs Racing, the No. 11 Chevrolet.

In 2005, Craven moved to the Craftsman Truck Series to drive the No. 99 Ford for Roush Racing. Craven was second in points after 9 races, and there was talk about him being promoted to Mark Martin's No. 6 Nextel Cup ride for 2006. However, a brutal stretch of finishes led to a free fall in the point standings, and it was announced that he would be gone from Roush at the end of the year. Craven did win at Martinsville Speedway late in the year, and finished fourteenth in points.

His final NASCAR start came at the Goody's 250 at Martinsville in the Busch Series for FitzBradshaw Racing in 2006. He finished 39th after the brakes failed on his No. 14 Dodge.

Retirement from racing

He eventually retired and worked for ESPN and Yahoo! Sports as a NASCAR analyst. In January 2019, he departed ESPN after 12 full years with the network to work for Fox. Craven later left Fox at the conclusion of the 2020 season to pursue a new Ricky Craven Motorsports venture. He previously owned a motorsports dealership by that name in Belfast, Maine.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NNCC Pts Ref
1991 Moroso Racing 20 Olds DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR
34
PHO ATL 82nd 61
1995 Larry Hedrick Motorsports 41 Chevy DAY
16
CAR
16
RCH
38
ATL
12
DAR
42
BRI
29
NWS
33
MAR
18
TAL
17
SON
25
CLT
10
DOV
22
POC
26
MCH
33
DAY
22
NHA
31
POC
25
TAL
26
IND
31
GLN
10
MCH
7
BRI
32
DAR
18
RCH
29
DOV
22
MAR
35
NWS
21
CLT
25
CAR
8
PHO
24
ATL
30
24th 2883
1996 DAY
13
CAR
3
RCH
17
ATL
12
DAR
3
BRI
9
NWS
7
MAR
12
TAL
36
SON
31
CLT
37
DOV
14
POC
17
MCH
29
DAY
22
NHA
26
POC
20
TAL
19
IND
34
GLN
36
MCH
18
BRI
21
DAR
42
RCH
28
DOV
35
MAR
26
NWS
22
CLT
5
CAR
22
PHO
34
ATL
35
20th 3078
1997 Hendrick Motorsports 25 Chevy DAY
3
CAR
5
RCH
14
ATL
35
DAR
40
TEX BRI MAR
22
SON
39
TAL
27
CLT
37
DOV
13
POC
16
MCH
18
CAL
9
DAY
37
NHA
16
POC
18
IND
16
GLN
17
MCH
12
BRI
13
DAR
31
RCH
18
NHA
5
DOV
41
MAR
8
CLT
25
TAL
6
CAR
3*
PHO
43
ATL
39
19th 3108
1998 50 DAY
14
CAR
10
LVS
27
ATL
34
DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL CLT DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA
29
POC
41
IND
17
GLN
35
MCH BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL 46th 907
MB2 Motorsports 36 Pontiac DAY
QL
PHO
30
CAR
37
ATL
25
1999 SBIII Motorsports 58 Ford DAY
26
CAR
22
LVS
39
ATL
42
DAR
37
TEX
27
BRI
41
MAR
43
TAL
27
CAL
34
RCH
19
CLT
DNQ
DOV
31
MCH POC SON 41st 1513
Midwest Transit Racing 50 Chevy DAY
43
NHA
13
POC IND
34
GLN MCH
30
BRI
42
DAR RCH NHA
43
DOV
40
MAR
24
CLT
43
TAL CAR
41
PHO
30
HOM
32
ATL
DNQ
2000 DAY
DNQ
CAR
DNQ
LVS
40
ATL DAR
DNQ
BRI
DNQ
TEX MAR
31
TAL
29
CAL RCH
40
CLT
42
DOV MCH
DNQ
POC SON DAY
29
NHA
17
POC IND
41
GLN MCH
37
BRI
DNQ
DAR RCH
26
NHA
36
DOV MAR
20
CLT
DNQ
TAL
30
CAR
15
PHO
18
HOM
DNQ
ATL
30
44th 1175
2001 PPI Motorsports 32 Ford DAY
23
CAR
5
LVS
41
ATL
13
DAR
27
BRI
23
TEX
27
MAR
28
TAL
15
CAL
41
RCH
43
CLT
31
DOV
4
MCH
35
POC
43
SON
16
DAY
33
CHI
21
NHA
38
POC
10
IND
9
GLN
35
MCH
2
BRI
38
DAR
18
RCH
11
DOV
26
KAN
21
CLT
35
MAR
1*
TAL
24
PHO
8
CAR
12
HOM
30
ATL
38
NHA
38
21st 3379
2002 DAY
17
CAR
5
LVS
31
ATL
5
DAR
41
BRI
13
TEX
14
MAR
30
TAL
18
CAL
37
RCH
9
CLT
3
DOV
7
POC
14
MCH
15
SON
19
DAY
23
CHI
20
NHA
21
POC
17
IND
33
GLN
34
MCH
17
BRI
16
DAR
14
RCH
21
NHA
6
DOV
9
KAN
38
TAL
15
CLT
36
MAR
7
ATL
21
CAR
9
PHO
34
HOM
24
15th 3888
2003 Pontiac DAY
26
CAR
4
LVS
36
ATL
12
DAR
1
BRI
15
TEX
21
TAL
4
MAR
27
CAL
15
RCH
38
CLT
38
DOV
8
POC
10
MCH
15
SON
21
DAY
43
CHI
25
NHA
21
POC
40
IND
17
GLN
28
MCH
40
BRI
8
DAR
8
RCH
30
NHA
38
DOV
40
TAL
8
KAN
41
CLT
19
MAR
32
ATL
35
PHO
38
CAR
39
HOM
29
27th 3334
2004 Chevy DAY
23
CAR
35
LVS
25
ATL
22
DAR
36
BRI
22
TEX
28
MAR
16
TAL
43
CAL
18
RCH
26
CLT
24
DOV
16
POC
34
MCH
29
SON
16
DAY
38
CHI
38
NHA
38
POC
20
IND
24
GLN
32
MCH
35
BRI
34
CAL RCH NHA
17
DOV 34th 2086
Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Chevy TAL
30
KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM
- Qualified for Ernie Irvan
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1995 Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 14 16
1996 36 13
1997 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 40 3
1998 32 14
1999 SBIII Motorsports Ford 28 26
2000 Midwest Transit Racing Chevrolet DNQ
2001 PPI Motorsports Ford 18 23
2002 43 17
2003 Pontiac 25 26
2004 Chevrolet 28 23

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 NBSC Pts Ref
1986 Craven Racing 12 Chevy DAY CAR HCY MAR BRI DAR SBO LGY JFC DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU IRP SBO RAL OXF
25
SBO HCY LGY ROU BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR ROU CLT CAR MAR 122nd 0
1987 09 Buick DAY HCY MAR DAR BRI LGY SBO CLT DOV IRP ROU JFC OXF
17
SBO HCY RAL LGY ROU BRI JFC DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT CAR MAR 95th -
1990 Craven Racing 25 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR MAR HCY DAR BRI LAN SBO NZH HCY CLT DOV ROU VOL MYB OXF
34
NHA
4
CAR MAR 65th 258
28 NHA
42
SBO DUB IRP ROU BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT
1991 2 Chevy DAY RCH
14
CAR NZH
19
CLT DOV ROU HCY MYB GLN 40th 782
85 MAR
26
VOL HCY DAR BRI LAN SBO NHA
40
28 OXF
1*
SBO DUB IRP ROU BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT
25 NHA
1*
CAR
20 MAR
32
1992 J&J Racing 99 Chevy DAY
13
CAR
8
RCH
15
ATL
30
MAR
15
DAR
19
BRI
22
HCY
18
LAN
11
DUB
24
NZH
10
CLT
16
DOV
14
ROU
23
MYB
10
GLN
24
VOL
12
NHA
12
TAL
21
IRP
18
ROU
7
MCH
13
NHA
9
BRI
21
DAR
25
RCH
18
DOV
19
CLT
15
MAR
20
CAR
25
HCY
29
14th 3456
1993 DAY
22
CAR
14
RCH
6
DAR
27
BRI
19
HCY
2
ROU
28
MAR
3
NZH
8
CLT
25
DOV
8
MYB
13
GLN
37
MLW
10
TAL
10
IRP
7
MCH
6
NHA
8
BRI
6
DAR
9
RCH
28
DOV
2
ROU
2
CLT
26
MAR
3
CAR
10
HCY
4
ATL
15
2nd 3593
1994 RC Racing 2 Chevy DAY
35
CAR
24
RCH
7
ATL
17
MAR
12
DAR
14
HCY
1*
BRI
15
ROU
5
NHA
22
NZH
1*
CLT
11
DOV
5
MYB
3
GLN
7
MLW
10
SBO
21
TAL
32
HCY
7
IRP
6
MCH
23
BRI
4
DAR
8
RCH
24
DOV
3
CLT
8
MAR
8
CAR
3
2nd 3679
1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR
26
BRI HCY NHA
DNQ
NZH CLT DOV
3
MYB GLN
3
MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH
4
BRI DAR
34
RCH DOV
28*
CLT
39
CAR HOM
DNQ
43rd 761
1996 DAY CAR
4
RCH ATL NSV DAR
4
BRI HCY NZH CLT DOV
2
SBO MYB GLN
16
MLW NHA TAL IRP MCH
5
BRI
31
DAR
6
RCH DOV
5*
CLT
20
CAR
3
HOM
21
29th 1503
1997 DAY CAR
6
RCH ATL LVS DAR
15
HCY TEX BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT
39
DOV
16
SBO GLN MLW
37
MYB GTY
32
IRP MCH BRI DAR
10
RCH DOV
28
CLT
41
CAL CAR
3
HOM 43rd 1063
1998 DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN
9
MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH
25
BRI
22
DAR RCH DOV
9
CLT
37
GTY CAR
43
ATL HOM 57th 547
1999 Innovative Motorsports 47 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH
DNQ
BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM NA -
2000 RC Racing 32 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI
7
TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH 63rd 490
23 NHA
34
CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP BRI
18
DAR RCH DOV
Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Chevy MCH
24
Emerald Performance Group 19 Chevy CLT
DNQ
CAR
42
MEM PHO
DNQ
HOM
39
2004 Richard Childress Racing 29 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI
11
NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO DAR HOM 106th 130
2006 Fitz Motorsports 14 Dodge DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL BRI TEX NSH PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA MAR
39
GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM 139th 46

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCTC Pts Ref
2004 Morgan-Dollar Motorsports 47 Chevy DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA
31
LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 105th 70
2005 Roush Racing 99 Ford DAY
4
CAL
3
ATL
18
MAR
2
GTY
10
MFD
8
CLT
10
DOV
7
TEX
13
MCH
33
MLW
21
KAN
13
KEN
13
MEM
27
IRP
25
NSH
24
BRI
32
RCH
20
NHA
11
LVS
23
MAR
1*
ATL
9
TEX
21
PHO
32
HOM
21
14th 2976

Winston West Series

NASCAR Winston West Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NWWSC Pts Ref
1999 SBIII Motorsports 58 Ford TUS LVS
23
PHO CAL
1
PPR MMR IRW EVG POR IRW RMR LVS MMR MOT 44th 279

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