Craftsman Truck Series racer Ricky Craven was at Texas Motor Speedeay Tuesday, testing for the Chex 400 race on June 10. Tuesday also was his 39th birthday. The former Nextel Cup driver joined Roush Racing this year with hopes of getting back to Cup racing. But he doesn’t think he will be selected to replace the retiring Mark Martin next season in the #6 Viagra Ford. “I think that’s very remote,” he said. “At 39, I’m sort of the end of the scale for what teams are looking for. I totally focused on this truck team and winning the championship this season.” Martin is ending his Cup career but not his racing career. Craven expects Martin to join him in the truck series as a teammate next year.(Dallas Morning News)(5-27-2000)
UPDATE: Ricky Craven remains firmly focused on winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points championship for Roush Racing but admitted he now feels his chances of replacing Mark Martin in the #6 Ford in the Nextel Cup series next season are “remote.” Martin is retiring from full-time Nextel Cup racing to run in the Truck series. “The reason I think it’s remote is I turned 39 years old a couple of days [May 24] ago and that is clearly not the trend,” said Craven. “I’m not trying to talk myself out of a job but I’m realistic. Roush Racing is evaluating the opportunity and the drivers and that’s exactly what they should be doing. I have made it clear I’m interested in racing Cup cars with Roush Racing. I still feel I’ve got several good years ahead of me and that my best years are still ahead of me,” he added. “I won two [Cup] races the last four years and I’m determined to succeed again. I certainly have no reservations whatsoever that I can compete at the top of my game the next two, three, four years.”
There was some speculation Procter and Gamble/Tide was interested in hooking up with Craven in a Roush car next season. However, they will have one year left on their contract with PPI Motorsports after this season. “I haven’t had any discussions with them,” said Craven. He said he has no interest in speculating on the future.(Bangor Daily News)(5-28-2005)
