Ricky Craven returned to Darlington Raceway today to once again leave his mark on NASCAR’s original superspeedway.
This time instead of beating his competitors to the finish line by a fraction of a second, he was helping construction crews cut the historic finish line out of the asphalt for enshrinement into the Darlington Raceway Museum and National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame.
“A lot of comparisons are made, but Darlington is so unique, so special to the sport, ” said Craven. “I am happy they are making the capital improvements but not changing the character and personality of the track. ”
Craven knows the track’s character and personality well. On March 16, 2003 Craven recorded his second career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series victory edging out Kurt Busch by only. 002 thousandths of a second. His win set the record for the closest margin of victory in NASCAR history.
“Winning at Darlington is what was important, ” said Craven. “As the years have gone on it has been about the event and the spectacular finish, but as a racer it was always about winning at Darlington. ”
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