Team: PPI Motorsports
Car/sponsor/make: No. 32 Tide Ford
| |  |
| | Craven |
|
STATS
|
Year
|
Rank
|
Wins
|
Top 5
|
Top 10
|
Money
|
Best finish
|
|
2001
|
21
|
1
|
4
|
7
|
$1,908,119
|
1st, Martinsville
|
|
Career
|
|
1
|
11
|
24
|
$6,728,704
|
1st, Martinsville
|
2001 recap
The good: Craven finally buried the post-concussion syndrome monkey that had been on his back for more than three seasons. In the process, his return to the series on a full-time basis couldn't have been more spectacular,
including his first career win (Martinsville, fall) and first career
runner-up (Michigan, summer) finish.
Season highlight: Craven's win at Martinsville, along with
his top-25 finish in the final standings in his first full season back on the
circuit since 1997 (he had raced part-time from 1998-2000). Also, starting
41st in the second race of the season (Rockingham) and finishing a surprising
fifth was an early indicator that showed Craven meant business and had the
skill and promise to do well in 2001, which is just what he did. While other
drivers and teams might call a 21st-place finish at the end of the season a
disappointing campaign, for Craven and the No. 32 team, it was a tremendous
starting-off point, and holding promise for even greater things to come in
2002.
The bad: Consistency was a problem for Craven in 2001. He had four finishes of 40th or worse, and 10 other finishes between 30th and 39th, including
finishing the last three races of the season 30th, 38th and 38th.
Season lowlight: Finishing 20th or lower in 14 of the first 19 races. As a
result, some critics began calling Craven's replacement of Scott Pruett in
the No. 32 Tide Ford a mistake and that Craven should retire because of the
lingering effects of post-concussion syndrome. But once he took the pole and
finished second at Michigan in August, as well as winning his first career
Winston Cup event seven races later at Martinsville, criticism against Craven
pretty much evaporated.
|  |
| Ricky Craven, right, is congratulated by teammates after Craven won the pole for the Pepsi 400 at Michigan. |
Key stat: Craven's average start of 20.5 put him in the top half of
qualifying fields more than half of the season (started 20th or higher in 22
of the season's 36 races).
2002 outlook
What needs to be done: With one year of moderately successful experience under its belt, and most of the team returning for next year, Craven and his crew can only get stronger in 2002. His finish in 2001 will help Craven's
confidence tremendously, but he needs to work more on his consistency and not
let his motivation become affected if he has a poor finish in a race.
Prediction: With the deep pockets of both team owner Cal Wells and primary sponsor Tide, Craven has one of the best rides in Winston Cup. There's no reason why the team can't finish in the top-15 -- and maybe even knock on the door of the top-10 -- in 2002.
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