For Craven, home is where the race is

LOUDON, N.H. -- For Newburgh, Maine's Ricky Craven, it's always good to return to New Hampshire International Speedway, his hometown track.

However, this is a weekend of mixed emotions for Craven, who qualified 21st on Friday, only to hit the wall minutes into Saturday's first practice session.

Craven spun coming out of Turn 4 and made contact with the wall down the frontstretch, damaging the front end and right rear of his car. The accident forced the team to pull out its backup car for Sunday's Sylvania 300.

	Ricky Craven

In addition, his Ricky Craven Motorsports North store was destroyed by fire the morning of Aug. 31. Still, Craven says the outpouring of support so far has been remarkable.

"We lost everything, Craven said. "When I flew there, I wasn't prepared for what I saw. There are things I could go on and on about, but the point is that we've already had people come here and give us pictures and things to replace some of the memorabilia we lost."

Among the trophies lost in the fire were those for Craven's first Busch North Series win, first Busch Series win and a replica of the trophy for Craven's first Winston Cup Series win, a thrilling duel with Dale Jarrett at Martinsville in 2001.

By his own admission, the fire and its aftermath have affected him on the racetrack.

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"It's my family. It's very much a family business," Craven said. "I have to be careful not to be distracted. We have objectives for the season that we have to meet.

"I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been on my mind the past couple of weeks," Craven said. "(But) it's apple-picking season and my family is happy to be back home."

Besides the hometown love Craven and his team get here, they also run pretty well on the 1.058-mile New Hampshire oval. In July, Craven was running second to Jeff Gordon on lap 208, but fell victim to fuel mileage before finishing 21st.

"The fact is we didn't get the fuel mileage the other teams got," Craven said. "As a result, we ended up having to stop. Essentially, we came up a half-gallon short."

Craven was adamant that the bad luck his team endured in July won't affect Sunday's strategy.

	Ricky Craven is currently 21st in the Winston Cup standings. Credit: Autostock

"If we go into the race thinking that we need to do everything we can to save fuel, there'll be 36 cautions on Sunday and fuel will be irrelevant."

"You can't play that game. "The fact is that some days are not your day and some days you get damn lucky," he said. "Over the long haul, it probably evens out."

Craven also finished eighth in this race one year ago behind winner Ryan Newman. More than anything else, Craven says his success at NHIS has to do with comfort.

"It has more to do with the fans and the friends than it is the asphalt or anything else," Craven said. "It's more about coming home."

That said, Craven did say the changes the track has undergone suit his team just fine.

"The track has more grip than it had in July. It's faster. All of those things work to our advantage."