Ricky Craven has two top-five finishes this season in the Craftsman Truck Series. Credit: Autostock

Despite Cup hopes, Craven focused on NCTS

Solid start to season as veteran optimistic about future

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Now hear this: Ricky Craven doesn't want to race in the Craftsman Truck Series.

OK, maybe that's not the point. Craven, after all, is a serious competitor, and he wants to race in the top level of stock car racing -- Nextel Cup. One day, he hopes to be back there.

And one day, Craven hopes that's with Roush Racing. A seat with the powerhouse Roush organization will be open in 2006 after Mark Martin vacates the No. 6 Ford, and Craven makes no bones about being the guy who wants it.

	Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Ricky Craven's record in the Craftsman Truck Series Races Wins Top-5s Top-10s 3 0 2 2

"Whoever drives the 6 car in 2006 will have to have earned it, and I have no idea who that will be," Craven said. "To be clear, I would like to race at the Cup level for Roush Racing.

"I don't know if I've ever said that, but I'm saying it. The only part of that I can control is to succeed in 2005, and that's got my full attention."

Craven's 2005 season will be spent in one of Roush Racing's Craftsman Truck Series Fords, having gotten that ride after leaving Nextel Cup late last year. So far, so good for Craven in the trucks. He's finished fourth and third in the first two races and will be looking for more this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of Friday's one-day World Financial Group 200.

"More," of course, is a relative term for Craven. He's still got eyes for the Nextel Cup Series, and he knows succeeding in the trucks could help propel him back to NASCAR's elite division.

But he also realizes he doesn't want to get lost in the forest before he could see the big trees.

"To be clear, my objective is to capitalize on this opportunity," Craven said. "This is a fantastic opportunity, and I had very little hesitation when it was presented to me. I was excited about the idea of racing with Jack Roush, but to be clear, I'm 38 years old, and I believe I've got another chance at the plate.

"There's plenty of racing left for me. I truly believe that if we're able to capitalize on this opportunity, which is a good one, we'll be rewarded with another Cup opportunity. However, that right now is not as important as succeeding in 2005."

So forget about Nextel Cup for the time being. The Craftsman Truck Series had his full attention, and the series deserves it. With all the veterans driving trucks these days -- from champion Bobby Hamilton to Mike Skinner to Jack Sprague to Johnny Benson to Jimmy Spencer ... and on and on -- Craven never expected to come in the series and win right away.

There has been an adjustment period, for sure. But the way the schedule is for the first couple of months, Craven has had plenty of time to learn.

"The schedule is accommodating for a guy that has just had his third child and has some of the personal things going on in my life," Craven said. "But the fact is that I would like to be racing a little more than we are. We've gotten off to a good start, and I have two thoughts on that.

"First, we would like to be racing a little more because we could try to continue that momentum that we're building. However, I'm thankful for the start that we've had, and we've used the extra time to help prepare for some of the challenges that we have going forward.

"It's a new schedule for me. There are some tracks that I haven't seen that we're going to be racing at, and there are some aspects of racing the trucks that we're still trying to catch up to and become familiar with, so we've done some testing, and we've taken advantage of the time and we'll continue to do that."

By the time June rolls around, Craven said his team needs to hit its stride because the summer months are crucial to his championship hopes. There are 10 races over June, July and August, and the team that is ready for that stretch could be the team that wins it all.

Craven and crew chief Mike Beam aren't strangers, but they are to the No. 99 team and the Craftsman Truck Series. The light schedule early in the year has helped the team jell.

"It's allowed us an opportunity to try and catch up both on a personal level and even from a team standpoint because Mike has a wealth of talent, but he is new to the series," Craven said.

"The 99 team is an exciting group, an exciting team, but it is made up of some young members that are doing a fantastic job, but they're 23 or 24 years old, and this extra time has helped Mike and I and all of them get closer and become more familiar with one another and work through some of the things we need to work through."

They all seem to have done a good job so far, as the results show. If they continue running up front, maybe Craven will get his wish ... and get back in a Nextel Cup car.