Conversation: Ricky Craven

Ricky Craven has always been New England's favorite son. But after last month's stirring duel with Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway, Craven has picked up some more fans and more attention.

Not that he minds the attention. Craven and his PPI Motorsports team sit ninth in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings, and is the only single-car entry in the top 20. There were a lot of questions coming into 2003 for Craven, as he had a new manufacturer (Pontiac), a new crew chief (Scott Miller) and a new engine builder (PPI).

AUDIO CLIPS Listen to the conversation 1.87 MB / 15:36 Listen

But one can tell by the smile on Craven's face that things are going well. NASCAR.com dispatched Lee Montgomery to sit down with him recently, and Craven opened up about a variety of subjects. Craven even talked about coming back from a head injury a few years ago, a topic he usually prefers to leave alone.

People are still talking about Darlington, the race there and how exciting it was -- and they probably will for a long time to come. Do you think about it a lot, and if so, what do you think about?

Craven: "I've got a picture in my bus that I'll keep in there. It's motivating. Wins are hard to come by, and when you win in that fashion, it's even more valuable, and I appreciate it more. At first, it was about winning Darlington. After we crossed the finish line and the team was celebrating and I looked up at the scoreboard, and they had us first and the 97 second -- I actually confirmed that we had won. The day following that, you sort of realized that it was more than just a win. I've enjoyed that since.

"We turned the page when we hit Bristol Friday morning. That's how we approached it, and that's how you approach it every week. But I have to confess that wherever we go, it gets brought up. I don't know how long that will last, but I'm enjoying it."

That's not a bad thing when people ask about it.

"That's not a bad thing. When you get that type of response from the fans, from your family and friends -- regardless of who it is, it seems to be brought up wherever we go -- that's proof that this sport is firing on all eight cylinders. This is a great time right now."

Both of your victories were real barn-burners, real battles: Jarrett at Martinsville and then the one with Busch. Does that show how much of a fighter you are? Not just in racing, but in general?

	Craven embraces Kurt Busch after winning at Darlington. Credit: Autostock

"It shows that I've got a really good racing team that I enjoy being around. Cal and I hooked up in 2001, and since we have, they've been the most productive years for me in Winston Cup racing. I believe he would tell you the same. We've had a lot of fun, but we've also performed.

"I love to compete. The flip side of that is I hate to lose, like every other competitor. I found that the older I get, the less I like losing and the more I like winning. It doesn't matter what we're doing. I have a hard time controlling my competitive nature. I think that's a good thing to a certain degree. There's an ugly side of being a competitor."

That's called a bad loser.

"None of us accept defeat very well. But I know I'm not going to be doing this forever. The one thing I want to be sure of is that when I've decided I've had enough that I can look back and say, 'I gave it every thing I had.' That's exactly how I raise my children, that's the way I evaluate people around me. It's just about giving it all you have."

You talked about when Cal hired you in 2001. Did he call you to offer you the job, or did he offer it in person? How long did it take you to say, 'Yeah.'

"Well, he called and asked if I would be interested in having dinner. At the time, I was racing part-time with the MidWest team. I was very frustrated with that because, for all the reasons I just described about being a competitor, I was not interested in running a part-time schedule again. For whatever reason, we got together. He called, we got together, had dinner. Ironically enough, I had built a friendship with Don Hawk, and I believe Don had put in a good word for me. We hadn't spent any time together up until that point. Cal and I flew to Cincinnati, and I was interviewed like any other job interview. Apparently, they felt I was qualified.

	Credit: Autostock

"The hurdle that I had to clear to be back in a competitive situation was the perception of being knocked around and injured. We ran awfully strong in that No. 50 car. We ran better than we should've under the circumstances. We did an awful lot with very little. We led 70 laps at New Hampshire, we ran second at Richmond for a long time and ran top-five -- just had some very good runs. We even led at Daytona at the beginning of 2000 in the Bud Shootout race.

"Before I could clear that hurdle, the perception of being injured, I had to have the opportunity. And Cal provided me the opportunity. The Tide team was going into their second season. The first season was not what they had expected, but they learned from it. It was just a perfect combination. Not only did we get hooked up with Cal, but with this group of people. There is a lot of talent on the team that you didn't necessarily recognize because the finishes weren't what they should've been in 2000.

"Two-thousand-one was a good year. We won at Martinsville, finished second at Michigan, won the pole at Michigan. Two-thousand-two, top 15 in points, top 10 in laps led. Statistically, we had a great year -- did everything but win. This year, we've won already. If you can't tell, I'm having a pretty good time."

Looks that way. And yet you're with a single-car team, and everybody seems to make a big deal about it. Is that kind of overblown? Do you wish you had a teammate?

RICKY CRAVEN  •  Driver Page  •  PPI Motorsports  •  Crew chief Scott Miller  •  Craven's Message Board  •  Store: Buy Craven gear!

"I think it's overblown to some degree. There are aspects of it that put us in a difficult position. Financially, it certainly would be nice to have twice the income. On the flip side of that is we're very focused. Each of those team members go to work knowing they're going to work on the Tide Pontiac and Ricky Craven's their driver. There's not as much distraction. There are aspects of it that actually work to our advantage."

You talked about your family. You seem like a devoted and loving father. Tell me about your kids.

"They're great kids. They've got a great mom and great grandparents. I obviously see a little bit of me in them and a little bit of my wife in them. If you have kids, you realize kids are what you live for. If you don't have kids, then you don't have a clue."

I don't have kids.

"Then you just don't know. Some people have no interest in that, but I think that's because they don't know, they haven't experienced it. It's just priceless. Kids are priceless. You ask Everett who his buddy is, and he'll say, 'My dad.'

"That's a really good balance for me. I feel like I have as good an opportunity in the next four years as anyone, and having a solid family allows me to focus on my profession."

How did you and your wife meet? It wasn't at a race track, was it?

"It actually kinda was. I met her in '86, and I was racing for her uncle. She came to a race with her parents. I asked her for a piece of gum, and now I get my gum from Cal, but thank goodness I met her first.

"I actually resigned from the team just to be closer to her. We had a lot of fun when we were growing up, or attempting to grow up. We had a lot of fun. I moved to New Hampshire, for two reasons: that's where she lived, so I wanted to be closer to her, and the new track that was being built by the Bahres. She lived 10 miles from there, and I started my own Busch North team that year. It was one of the better decisions that I ever made. I went deep in debt to do it, but I paid all our bills."

You really have a connection with the fans in New England. It seems to be more than just because you're from Maine and lived in New Hampshire. Why have they attached themselves to you?

"I think it's a New England thing. The people have a strong allegiance to their communities and families and one another. I'm a New England boy. That qualifies me as one of them, whether I'm from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut. I just think it's a New England thing. There's a bond. It's Fenway Park, the Boston Garden, the Fleet Center, Moosehead Lake, Mt. Washington, the coast of Maine.

"There are things about New England and New England people that I really appreciate. My wife and I made a decision to build a log home in Maine in 1997 so that we could establish some type of residence there and still call it home. That was the primary objective, to still be able to call Maine home and to take our kids there every summer and every Christmas. It's another one of the decisions that paid off for us. The fact that we have a home there still gives us a home base."

Are you a big fan of lobster?

"Let me put it to you this way. We flew to Maine (recently) to sign autographs at my store in Belfast. We flew five us in a 206, which is pretty much loaded. You can fit six people in, but they don't need to be very big people. And we're all big people. I asked the pilot, 'Do you mind if we get some lobster?' He said, 'If you get a little bit, it'll be fine.'

"We ended up getting 115 pounds of lobster and clams and scallops and haddock. He was a little disappointed when we showed up with two boxes that big. We couldn't get it in the plane. We had to take one of the seats out to fit it in the plane."

You could've left somebody behind.

"Yeah, well, that was an option. If it came down to leaving something behind, believe me, we would've drawn straws. The lobster and scallops and the clams were going to North Carolina."

	Craven with owner Cal Wells. Credit: Autostock

New car, new crew chief, new engines. And yet things have seemed to come together really well. Is that a testament to the whole team?

"It's Cal Wells. He keeps this s--- up, and we're going to get a second team. The second team is critical to all of us in terms of growth. It's not that important to me right now because it would be a bit distracting during the season to try and start up a team. But he deserves a second team. He's certainly paid his dues, and PPI should stand with the other multi-car teams. He's got two wins and three poles in the last three years. It's all about performance, and I think we're performing. The key is, and he'll always remind you of this, is that we need to continue. That's going to be the key for us. Although things have gone well the first 28 months, they need to get better the next 28. Then I can sit on the porch at our log home in Maine and say, 'We gave it all we had.'"