PPI hopes big change brings big opportunity

Joe Gibbs Racing helped build the new Pontiac Grand Prix but left to join Chevrolet. Does JGR know something we don't?

Cal Wells doesn't think so. And neither does Ricky Craven.

Wells and Craven, the major players in PPI Motorsports, decided the move to Pontiac was the right thing to do for their team. So they ended a three-year association with Ford -- the only manufacturer the team used in NASCAR -- to join General Motors and Pontiac.

	Ricky Craven finished 15th in points last season for team owner Cal Wells. Credit: Autostock

Is it a risk? Of course it is. But in the multi-car world of Winston Cup, a single-car team has to do anything it can to improve its chances. Sure, Wells would love to have a second car, but the money isn't there.

So PPI will plod along with its one car, the No. 32 Pontiac.

A little bit of trivia: When was the last time a single-car team won a race? Yep. Craven and the 32 -- at Martinsville in 2001. PPI started as a two-car team that year, but the No. 96 was gone before the season ended.

The move to Pontiac is one that comes with a lot of problems. One of the main issues is that PPI won't be able to use the potent Robert Yates Racing engines in 2003. PPI will get its restrictor-plate engines from Richard Childress Racing while building its own open engines.

Switching bodies is a big deal, too, but not as major a problem as it would have been, say, a year ago. Every team has had to alter its body location to comply with NASCAR rules, and Pontiac and Chevrolet teams have new bodies.

Along with the added workload and problems, however, there is "potential," Craven said.

VIDEO CLIPS Craven finishes third in the 2002 Coca-Cola Racing Family 600. Play video    RICKY CRAVEN  •  Driver Page  •  2002 Stats    ALSO  •  Craven continued to improve in 2002  •  Miller returns to PPI as Craven's crew chief  •  PPI to switch to Pontiac

"With the change comes opportunity," Craven said. "There is a certain amount of risk that's involved with that. We wouldn't change if we didn't think we were doing it to get better."

Craven and PPI did get better last year, at least by the numbers. Craven finished 21st in the points in 2001 -- his first year with PPI -- and ended up 15th in the points last season. Though he didn't win, Craven was in position to several times in 2002.

"Last year we expected to win," Craven said. "Statistically it was our best year ever. But (drivers) will tell you, it's really about winning. You either do or you don't. Ward (Burton) didn't have the best year points-wise, but he had a great year because he won twice. There isn't anybody out there that wouldn't change positions with him, even one of those wins, I think that's the way we are programmed.

"It's all about winning."

If Craven wins in 2003, he'll go to Victory Lane with a new crew chief. PPI and RCR made a swap of sorts, with Mike Beam going to RCR to Jeff Green's crew, while Scott Miller comes back to PPI.

Miller worked with Dale Earnhardt's team for three years before joining PPI Motorsports in its first season on the Winston Cup tour. He went back to RCR in 2001, but he's back again.

	Ricky Craven won at Martinsville in 2001, giving Cal Wells (right) his first win. Credit: Autostock

"It is great to come back to PPI where I know all of the people and all of the systems," Miller said. "I really appreciated all of the support that RCR has given me but this is a great opportunity that I could not pass up.

"Many times when you enter into a new position such as this there is lots of changeover with the crew, in our case, since we all know each other and have worked together in the past, I really believe that we will be a solid team right at the start of the season."

Miller was an engineer during his first stint with PPI, and Wells loves engineers. Does that mean Miller will "engineer" some victories in '03? Time will tell, obviously.

"With our switch to Pontiac for 2003, we control our own destiny since we build our own chassis, hang our own bodies and build our own engines," Wells said.

"As a team, we have progressed to the top 15 in just three years of racing, and our goal is to be top 10 in 2003. With Ricky, Scott and the rest of the dedicated folks at PPI, we are sure that we can accomplish this goal."