Craven outduels Jarrett to win Old Dominion 500
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
October 15, 2001
4:51 PM EDT (2051 GMT)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. - “Tough times don’t last, tough people do.”
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Ricky Craven
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Cathleen Craven uttered those heartfelt words to her husband several times over the past few years, when most everyone else in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series thought he was damaged goods, washed up, and unfixable following a rash of accidents that resulted in concussions.
On Monday, that was all forgotten as Ricky Craven stood in Victory Lane for the first time in his Winston Cup career, a span of 174 races.
Having just won the Old Dominion 500 at quirky Martinsville Speedway, Craven was understandably emotional, tears streaming down his cheeks while smiling from ear-to-ear.
“I came down (South) in 1982 with the idea of getting to Winston Cup and winning a Winston Cup race, and I’ll admit that over the past couple of years I wasn’t sure I’d ever get that chance,” said Craven, who with his first career Winston Cup win also handed car owner Cal Wells his first stock car victory.
“Here we are. We won at Martinsville, Va., one of the toughest tracks on the entire circuit. I want to thank Dale Jarrett for being such an awesome gentleman. I found comfort knowing he was in my mirror. I knew he would not rough me up.
“I knew he’d race me hard but I knew he wouldn’t rough me up because he’s such a gentleman. My biggest obstacle right now is getting some sleep before Talladega. I’ve waited my whole life for this and it’s just so exciting.”
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The win in the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville was Ricky Craven's first-ever Winston Cup victory.
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Speaking of exciting, the events that set up Craven’s emotional victory were just that, namely a chaotic melee between rookie Kevin Harvick and Martinsville mastermind Bobby Hamilton.
Hamilton was leading when the day’s 12th caution flag flew after a wreck in Turn 2 that included Kenny Wallace, Jerry Nadeau and Joe Nemechek. During that caution, Hamilton pitted but Harvick opted to stay out along with Matt Kenseth. Following the round of pit stops, Hamilton cycled into fourth position, but quickly found himself on the rear of leader Harvick’s bumper.
Harvick got a bit loose as the field entered Turn 2 and Hamilton tapped him in the rear. As Hamilton steered past Harvick, Craven shot to the low line to make it three-wide heading through Turn 3. As they entered Turn 4, Harvick spun Hamilton. Hamilton lost several positions and Harvick was black flagged by NASCAR.
Hamilton finished 13th. Harvick finished 22nd. Craven won.
“That was wild, that’s the window of opportunity we needed,” Craven said. “I’m not sure I could have beaten Bobby straight up, we were so even. You don’t think about it, really, though, during a situation like that. You just go, and we came out on the winning end of that deal and then just fought and fought to the end.”
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Craven and Dale Jarrett staged a thrilling duel on the last lap....
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Did he ever. To win, Craven was forced to fend off a furious charge from Jarrett.
On that final stop, Craven had pitted for just two tires, while Jarrett had taken on four, enabling him to close-in on Craven with each passing lap, until the duo eventually ran door-to-door into Turn 3 of the final lap. Coming off of Turn 4, Craven managed to hold the low line and go on to victory.
“Man that was exciting,” Jarrett said. “Ricky did great job there, and I thought I might have something for him. He was really loose off (the corner), but he did such a great job. I knew he only had two (new) tires, and I thought I had my tires cleaned off real good, but he got away.
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...coming into Turn 3, Jarrett edged past Craven...
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“I thought I was gonna wreck a couple times there at the end. I knew he wasn’t gonna give up the inside and I certainly wasn’t gonna spin him out. He did everything right. He’s such a great guy. It’s nice to have him as a Winston Cup WC winner. I congratulated him -- he did a great job. He did exactly what he was supposed to do.”
With the win, Craven becomes the seventh first-time winner at Martinsville, and joins Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler and Kevin Harvick among the first-time winners in the 2001 season.
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...but Craven blocked him and took the checkered flag.
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“I’m tougher today than I was two or three years ago, that’s good because you had to be tough today,” Craven said. “We had to match Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Hamilton door-to-door all day, and by God the Tide team came out on top.”
Speaking of coming out on top, Gordon may well have clinched his fourth NASCAR Winston Cup Series title Monday. Gordon finished 30 positions higher than his chief competitor for the title, Ricky Rudd, gaining 97 championship points in the process. He now leads Rudd by 334 points, and needs to finish just 11th or better during the remaining six races to clinch the title, regardless of the performance of any other driver.
That’s not to say Rudd wasn’t strong Monday. He was running second and gaining on leader Hamilton with each passing lap when, on lap-396 of 500, a large plum of smoke bellowed out from behind the No. 28 Robert Yates Racing Ford, the result of an uncharacteristic blown engine.
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Tony Stewart finished 41st.
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Like Rudd, a blown engine hurt Tony Stewart’s bid for a career-best finish in the championship point standings. Stewart was running in the top-5 on lap-125, but as he entered Turn 2, a large plume of smoke shot out from both sides of the No. 20 Pontiac.
Ward Burton finished third Monday, marking his best career effort here. Fourth place went to 2000 Winston Cup champion and Jeff Burton rounded out the top-5. Burton started at the rear of the field after crashing his primary car in Happy Hour Saturday.
“That’s microcosm of our year, these guys just keep fighting,” Burton said. “Everybody keeps asking if I’m leaving Roush. This is exactly why I won’t go anywhere. We’ll keep fighting and digging, and we’ll be better for it.”
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Ward Burton had his best day ever at Martinsville.
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After the race, Burton was elated for Craven.
“I called a Winston Cup car owner over the winter and told him if he wanted to win a race this year to hire Ricky Craven,” Burton said. “It wasn’t the (owner) he won for today, but nonetheless. I was gonna start a Busch team awhile back and have him in the car. I’m so happy for him because he’s such a good guy.”
And a tough one, too.
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