Ricky Craven Event Preview
No. 32 Tide Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Round 4 of 36 - Golden Corral 500
Atlanta Motor Speedway
HICKORY, NC (March 9, 2004) - Ricky Craven, driver of the No. 32 Tide
Chevrolet, has finished in the top-13 in the past three spring races in
Atlanta with PPI Motorsports. Since 2001, he has finished 13th, 5th and
12th respectively in the spring race. Craven considers Atlanta one of his
favorite tracks on the circuit and is looking forward to this weekend's
activities at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Ricky Craven, driver of the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet:
The past three years with PPI Motorsports, this team has posted some great
finishes at Atlanta. Is this a track that really suits yourself and this
team?
"I really like Atlanta. It has become one of my favorite tracks because
there are so many different ways to race and so many different grooves. As
it has aged, it has become a much better race track. It doesn't have as
much grip as the newer 1.5-mile tracks, and you can slide around. It is a
little bit rough. It has become better with age. I enjoy race tracks where
if you are not running as well as you'd like, you can move around and try to
find a place where your car runs faster instead of running around the bottom
of the race track. I love being able to pass on the high side, low side or
right in the middle. I think it's a racer's dream to maneuver and have
choices. I really enjoy that...it suits me and this Tide Racing team."
"The 2001 fall race we led a handful of laps and was racing side-by-side
with Dale, Jr. and the car popped out of gear. I was actually racing with
one hand, trying to pass him for the lead and keeping it in gear until it
finally broke. We were really disappointed because we thought we had a car
to win that day."
Dave Charpentier, crew chief of the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet
What car are you taking to Atlanta?
"We chose car No. 39 to bring to Atlanta and we made this decision based on
aero testing and on track testing. We tested at Nashville Superspeedway
over our off-weekend and brought two cars. We brought car No. 39 and car
No. 42. We felt like we needed to take car No. 42 to Las Vegas, because
that car has a better flat track type balance and we decided to take car No.
39 to Atlanta because it had a good overall balance on it and we thought the
body was better suited for it. Atlanta is much faster than Vegas because of
the higher banking, so it takes a bit of a different package. We thought
car No. 39 would be a better choice for Atlanta and car No. 42 for Vegas."
What makes Atlanta different than the other 1.5-mile tracks?
"Atlanta is the fastest 1.5-mile track we go to. It's got a lot of grip and
the asphalt is getting older, so it may be a little different with this new
tire, but I'm sure qualifying will be all about getting as much as you can
grip-wise and aero-wise out of the car for one lap. It is the fastest track
we go to. It's a unique track....it's so fast and you have a lot of grip,
so the car has to handle good, but you have to have your aero package well
sorted out. The cars will pick up a bad aero push in traffic, but it is a
multiple groove race track, you can run high or run
low and your driver can search around there to find what works. Ricky runs
well up top and he can pass on the high side, while you will see other guys
running on the low side and running well. The driver can search around
there and find the right balance for him between mechanical and grip and get
around traffic. So it is really unique."
How will the new tire and spoiler combination be a factor this weekend at
Atlanta?
"Atlanta tends to wear out right-rear tires, but that might be different
with this new tire. We also have less spoiler, which equals less total
downforce. It's going to be a little bit different with the aero package we
have too. We didn't test at Atlanta, so we're going to have to adapt a
little bit and learn on the fly. But as the track ages, you see less of a
problem with excessive tire wear and blown tires, because you don't have
quite as much grip and generate the heat which caused the problems you used
to have. We've gotten smarter about where we need to be with air pressure,
camber and setups to keep the tires from wearing unsafely. It takes a
complete package to do well at Atlanta. It takes a driver that will go out
there and willing to hold it almost wide open all the way around there and
you've got to have the downforce and be hooked up at the same time."
Atlanta Appearances:
* Friday, March 12th: Craven will stop by his souvenir rig
approximately 30 minutes following qualifying.
* Saturday, March 13th: Craven will sign autographs from 2:00
p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Sears Department Store at Cumberland Mall in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Chassis No. 39: The Tide Racing team is taking Chassis No. 39 to Atlanta
this weekend. In 2003, this car made three starts and posted one top-10
finish.
