Injury in crash at Texas had lingering effects, but team did
manage top-20 finishes 16 times in 19-race stretch ending with a third at
Rockingham in October. Final two races, though, were awful as Craven
started and finished last at Phoenix, then started 41st and finished 39th
at Atlanta. Had to use provisional starting spots nine times.
1999 Outlook:
Lacking a sponsor means that team owner Scott Barbour will have to dip into his own pockets, which doesn't bode well. Craven will be trying to resurrect a career that has gone downhill since a '97 crash at Texas while he was with Hendrick Motorsports.
Career
"A piece of debris off Michael Waltrip's car bounced right in front of us. We were running fifth, and I was real proud of the way things were going. The guys did a great job with the car this weekend. But when Michael went into the wall debris went everywhere. A piece went right in front of us and tore the front end off the Budweiser Chevrolet. We got it fixed and went back out, but the motor gave up. I think we ran it too long without oil after the accident, and it just didn't last." Sept. 21, 1997 after the MBNA 400.
Craven's 20th-place finish represented not so much what he accomplished in 1996, but what he overcame.
Craven fell victim of a multi-car crash at Talladega in the Winston Select 500. Although not seriously harmed, the violent impact and subsequent recovery left Craven a shell of the driver he was at the season's outset.
The beginning of 1996 saw Craven post four top-10s in the first seven races, including a Busch Pole Award at the Goody's 500 at Martinsville.It was his first NASCAR Winston Cup pole, and it came at the site of his first NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division pole.
He would manage only one more top-10 finish the rest of the year, a fifth-place in the UAW/GM Quality 500.
Defending NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion owner Rick Hendrick recognized his potential and lured Craven away from a shared ownership deal with Kodiak team boss Larry Hedrick.
The 1996 Rookie of the Year title was not his until the final race, in Atlanta, as Robert Pressly nipped Cravens' heels the entire season.
Craven garnered three of his four top-10 finishes the final third of the season. Charlotte was his track as he qualified inside the second row for the start of May's Coca-Cola 600 and on the front row for the UAW-GM 500 in October.
1991 NASCAR Busch North champion. Maxx Race Cards Rookie of the Year competitor in '95. Finished second to David Green in Busch Grand National points standings in '93, earning two victories, eight top-fives and 16 to 10s in 28 races.
Won $273,000 in '94 BGN competition, only his second full season. In only Winston Cup start, he finished 34th in '91 AC Delco 500 at Rockingham, winning $3,750. Wife, Cathleen, daughter, Riley Diane (12/31/91).
Sources: NASCAR Press Guides, Star and News staff reports.
