Ricky Craven facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dick 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 Craven (born May 24, 1966) is an American stock car racing expert and former driver. He was a successful NASCAR driver. He won races in four different NASCAR series.

Craven is famous for winning the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 race. He beat another driver, Kurt Busch, by a tiny amount. The difference was only 0.002 seconds! This was the closest finish in Cup Series history at that time. It was tied once in 2011. This record stood for over 20 years.

About Richard Craven

Richard Craven grew up in Maine. He finished high school at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine.

Craven's Racing Journey

Starting Out in Racing

Craven started racing when he was just 15 years old. He raced at Unity Raceway. He won two races and was named Rookie of the Year. The next year, he won 12 races and the track championship. In 1984, he won another championship and Rookie of the Year title at Wiscasset Speedway.

He then joined the American Canadian Tour and did very well. In 1986, he raced in his first NASCAR event. This was at Oxford Plains Speedway. Four years later, he won the Rookie of the Year award in the Busch North Series. In 1991, he became the champion of that series. He won 10 races that year. He also made his first start in the Winston Cup Series. In 1992, he became the NASCAR Rookie of the Year in the Busch Series. He finished second in the championship standings in 1993 and 1994.

Racing in the Winston Cup Series

Craven's 1997 race car

In 1995, Craven began racing full-time in the Winston Cup Series. He joined Larry Hedrick Motorsports. He earned the Rookie of the Year award that season. He finished in the top 10 four times.

In 1996, he started the year strong. He had three top 10 finishes and won his first pole position. A pole position means he started the race from the very front. He was doing great, but then he had a big crash. His car went into the air and hit the fence. He was okay, but the crash affected his season. He had a head injury from the crash. This made him miss two races.

In 1997, Craven joined Hendrick Motorsports. He finished third in the 1997 Daytona 500. This was a great start to the year. But then he had another crash during practice. He had to miss more races because of a head injury. When he came back, he won the Winston Open. He finished 19th in points that year. In 1998, his head injury problems continued. He missed several races. He later left Hendrick Motorsports.

Later Years in Racing

In 1999, Craven joined a new team, SBIII Motorsports. He later moved to another new team, Midwest Transit Racing. In 2000, the team raced part-time.

In 2001, Craven joined PPI Motorsports. He won his first career Winston Cup race at Martinsville Speedway. He held off Dale Jarrett to win. In 2002, he had a great year. He won two pole positions and finished in the top 10 nine times. He finished 15th in points, which was his best ever.

In 2003, his team switched to Pontiac cars. He won the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway. He beat Kurt Busch by only 0.002 seconds! This was one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history. He was the last driver to win a race in a Pontiac car. He left the Cup Series in 2004.

In 2005, Craven moved to the Craftsman Truck Series. He drove for Roush Racing. He won a race at Martinsville Speedway. He finished 14th in points that year. His last NASCAR race was in 2006. He raced in the Busch Series at Martinsville.

Life After Racing

After retiring from racing, Richard Craven became a NASCAR expert. He worked for ESPN and Yahoo! Sports. In 2019, he joined Fox. He left Fox in 2020 to start his own business, Ricky Craven Motorsports. He used to own a car dealership with the same name in Belfast, Maine.

Images for kids

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  Craven in 1997