Two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner Ricky Craven from Newburgh will be the honorary pace car driver for the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon on Sunday, Sept. 21.
“I’ve been looking forward to my return home for several months,” said Craven in a press release. “This was, during my driving days, and always will be my absolute favorite racetrack.”
Race time is 2 p.m.
“Each time I returned to New Hampshire to compete in a NASCAR event, I had the advantage of feeling as though I was racing with a home field advantage,” Craven added.
Craven, who recently purchased Hermon’s Speedway 95 from Del Merritt, was the 1995 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year and ran 278 career races in the series with 17 top-five and 41 top-ten finishes and six poles.
His wins came on Oct. 15, 2001, at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia and on March 16, 2003 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
The win at Darlington by .002 seconds over Kurt Busch was the closest finish in NASCAR history until Jimmie Johnson tied it with his victory over Clint Bowyer on April 17, 2011 at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Kyle Larson broke it again by edging Chris Buescher by .001 seconds at Kansas Speedway on May 5, 2024.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to get back behind the wheel to lead the Cup Series field to the green flag,” added the 59-year-old Craven, who has been inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame (2013), the New England Auto Racers Hall (2016) and the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame (2019).
The Sept. 21 race will be the first playoff race in the round of 12 drivers. The previous three playoff races whittle the field of qualifiers from 16 to 12.
“Ricky is a pride of New England and I can’t wait to see him back on the ‘Magic Mile’ behind the wheel of the official Toyota Supra pace car to lead the field of NASCAR’s stars to the green flag,” said David McGrath, the executive vice president and the general manager of the the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “We’re excited to welcome him for the whole weekend to engage with the New England race fans back on his home turf.”
Craven’s NASCAR Cup career spanned from 1991 to 2004 and his best finish in the points standings was a 15th in 2002.
From 1986 to 2006, he made 142 starts in NASCAR’s Xfinity Series which is one notch below the Cup series and he posted four wins, 27 top-fives and 57 top-10s along with seven poles.
Craven also made 26 starts in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series between 2004-2005 and collected a win, four top-fives and nine top-10s.
He was one of the first drivers to win in all three series: Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Trucks.
Following his racing career, the Hampden Academy Hall of Famer had a long stint as a NASCAR analyst on ESPN and Fox.