At last -- victory for Craven

By Jim Huber, Turner Sports Interactive
October 16, 2001
11:12 AM EDT (1512 GMT)

COMMENTARY

Jim Huber

We are trudging through difficult times as a people -- times when we are almost desperate for something good to happen, something rich and warm and smiley.

Enter Ricky Craven.

Imagine what this young man has endured these last two decades and then imagine, if you can, what he must have been feeling in the lengthening shadows of a Monday afternoon in Martinsville, Va.

He had been at this business of going in circles fast for 20 years, for 174 Winston Cup races, and he had never won. Never tasted champagne or earned the right to change caps twenty times for the cameras. Never climbed sideways out the left-hand window and waved mightily to a cheering crowd. Never cried from joy.

And in the midst of one of the longest non-winning streaks in NASCAR history, he nearly changed professions. After being hurt in a crash during practice in Texas in 1997, he missed a couple races. But the next season, not feeling quite right, he took himself out of the driver’s seat. Doctors called it "post-concussion syndrome".

He returned later that year, even won a pole; but something still wasn’t right and soon he was out of a job. Damaged goods.

For two seasons following, he went through what he calls "a part-time purgatory" until finally, late last season, Cal Wells decided he needed an experienced driver for the No. 32. He and his men met with Craven, looked deep into his eyes, listened to his heart, and decided there was no other choice but this man.

And Monday, in a dramatic showdown with Dale Jarrett, Ricky Craven paid him back. Finally, the bubbly. Finally, a change of caps. Finally, raised fists to the adoring mob. Finally, tears of joy.

Imagine what this man has gone through, both professionally and personally. Imagine the self-doubts and pain.

America, smile for a moment.

NOTE: Jim Huber's column appears weekly on NASCAR.com. The opinions listed here are those solely of the writer.