Ricky Craven facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ricky Craven
Craven in 1997
Born	Richard Allen Craven (1966-05-24) May 24, 1966 (age 59) Newburgh, Maine, U.S.
Achievements	1991 Busch North Series Champion
Awards	1981 Unity Raceway Rookie of the Year 1990 Busch North Series Rookie of the Year 1990, 1991 Busch North Series Most Popular Driver 1992 Busch Series Rookie of the Year 1995 Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Cup Series career
278 races run over 11 years
Best finish	15th (2002)
First race	1991 AC Delco 500 (Rockingham)
Last race	2004 EA Sports 500 (Talladega)
First win	2001 Old Dominion 500 (Martinsville)
Last win	2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers' 400 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 41 6
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
142 races run over 14 years
Best finish	2nd (1993, 1994)
First race	1986 Oxford 250 (Oxford)
Last race	2006 Goody's 250 (Martinsville)
First win	1991 True Value 250 (Oxford)
Last win	1994 Meridian Advantage 200 (Nazareth)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 57 7
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
26 races run over 2 years
Best finish	14th (2005)
First race	2004 Sylvania 200 Presented By Lowe's (Loudon)
Last race	2005 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win	2005 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 9 0
Statistics current as of December 2, 2012.

Richard Allen "Ricky" Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing expert and former driver. He used to race in NASCAR, winning races in four different series. Today, he shares his knowledge as a TV analyst. Ricky is especially famous for winning one of the closest races in NASCAR history!

Who is Ricky Craven?

Ricky Craven was born in Newburgh, Maine. He grew up to become a successful stock car racer. Stock car racing involves specially built cars that look like regular cars. Ricky raced in NASCAR, which is the biggest stock car racing organization in the United States. He even won races in four different NASCAR series, which is a rare achievement!

Ricky is perhaps best known for his amazing win at the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 race. He beat another driver, Kurt Busch, by only 0.002 seconds! That's like the blink of an eye. It was the closest finish in the history of the Cup Series at that time. Imagine how exciting that must have been!

Early Racing Days

Ricky started racing cars when he was just 15 years old. He raced at a track called Unity Raceway. In his first year, he won two races and was named "Rookie of the Year." The next year, he won 12 races and the track championship. He was clearly a natural!

In 1984, Ricky won another track championship and Rookie of the Year award at Wiscasset Speedway. He then moved on to the American Canadian Tour, where he continued to be very successful. In 1986, he made his first start in a NASCAR race at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Four years later, he began racing in the Busch North Series. He quickly earned the "Rookie of the Year" award there too. In 1991, he became the champion of that series, winning ten races. Two of those wins were special "combination" races with the bigger Busch Grand National Series. One of these was the famous Oxford 250 race.

Moving Up to the Big Leagues

In 1991, Ricky also made his first start in the top NASCAR series, then called the Winston Cup Series. He raced at Rockingham. In 1992, he started racing full-time in the Busch Series. He was once again named "Rookie of the Year." He finished second in the championship standings in both 1993 and 1994.

In 1995, Ricky moved up to race full-time in the Winston Cup Series. He joined Larry Hedrick Motorsports. He competed for the "Rookie of the Year" award and won it! He finished in the top 10 four times that year.

The next year, 1996, started great for Ricky. He had three top 10 finishes in a row and earned his first "pole position." A pole position means he was the fastest in qualifying and started the race in first place. He was doing very well in the points standings.

However, during a race at Talladega, Ricky was in a big crash. His car went into the air and hit the safety fence. Luckily, he was able to walk away from the crash. But it affected his season, and he didn't have as many top finishes after that.

Health Challenges and Comebacks

At the end of 1996, Ricky joined Hendrick Motorsports, a very famous racing team. He started 1997 strong, finishing third in the 1997 Daytona 500. This was a huge achievement, as his team had the top three finishers in that race!

But then, Ricky had another serious crash during practice for a race. He suffered a concussion, which is a type of brain injury. He had to miss two races to recover. When he came back, he won the Winston Open race. He ended the year with his best points finish yet, 19th.

After the 1998 season began, Ricky started feeling the effects of his concussion again. He was diagnosed with "post-concussion syndrome," which meant he had lasting symptoms from the injury. He had to miss several more races to get better. He returned later that year and even won a pole position at his home track in New Hampshire. But after four races, he left Hendrick Motorsports.

Later Career and Big Wins

In 1999, Ricky joined a brand new team, SBIII Motorsports. He struggled to finish well with them. Later that year, he moved to another new team, Midwest Transit Racing. He continued to race for them in 2000, but the team had to switch to a part-time schedule.

In 2001, Ricky got a new opportunity with PPI Motorsports. He won a pole position at Michigan. Then, at the Old Dominion 500 race in Martinsville, he earned his first-ever Winston Cup win! It was a very exciting finish.

The year 2002 was Ricky's best season in the Cup Series. He won two more pole positions and had nine top 10 finishes. He ended the year in 15th place in the points standings.

In 2003, his team started using Pontiac cars. This led to his most famous victory at the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 in Darlington. He battled Kurt Busch right to the finish line and won by just 0.002 seconds! It was an incredible moment. This win also made him the last person to ever win a NASCAR Cup Series race in a Pontiac car.

After 2003, Ricky's performance declined. In 2004, he was replaced by another driver. He made a few more starts, including one in a development car for Joe Gibbs Racing.

In 2005, Ricky moved to the Craftsman Truck Series. He raced for Roush Racing. He had a strong start to the season and even won a race at Martinsville Speedway. He finished 14th in the points standings that year. His final NASCAR race was in the Busch Series in 2006.

Life After Racing

After retiring from racing, Ricky Craven became a NASCAR analyst. He worked for ESPN for 12 years, sharing his insights and knowledge about the sport. In 2019, he moved to Fox NASCAR, another major sports network. He left Fox in 2020 to start his own business, Ricky Craven Motorsports. He had previously owned a dealership with the same name in Belfast, Maine.

Images for kids

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  Craven's 1997 race car