Ricky Craven said Monday he doesn’t expect to race full time next year. “I’m not going to pursue full-time Busch or Truck Series opportunities and it’s late in the game for Nextel Cup,” said the 39-year-old Craven, who has run 278 Nextel Cup races in his career. “I’m not saying it won’t happen [in Nextel Cup], but I don’t expect it this late.” He reiterated he doesn’t want to drive for a single-car Cup team or a team that doesn’t have the resources to be competitive. “I’m not interested in just racing. I don’t want to be a field-filler. That’s not how I want to race,” said Craven. “I’ve established my criteria for that. I am interested in racing in the Truck Series part time. It’s a wonderful series. I may even pursue that with my own team. If I did that, I would still have an opportunity to race Nextel Cup.” He indicated he would be interested in a part-time ride for a good, established Nextel Cup team, also. There are rumors circulating that Bobby Hamilton Jr., who replaced Craven in the Tide #32 Nextel Cup Chevy 16 months ago, won’t return to drive for PPI Motorsports and team owner Cal Wells III next season. Would Craven return to the team with which he won two Nextel Cup races, the only single-car team to do so over the last five years, and posted 10 top-fives and 24 top-10s in their 3 1/2-year relationship? “I certainly have an interest in helping Cal. We’re friends. We’ll see. But it needs to be a different situation,” said Craven, referring primarily to Wells’ ability to land a second team and sponsor.(Bangor Daily News)(11-22-2005)
