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).jpg)
Ricky
Craven, carving a name for himself at
New Hampshire Motor
Speedway
in 2004.
(NHMS Photo)
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11/22/11
PRESENT PAYOFF, FUTURE PAYOFF
Ricky Craven, the TV commentator and former
Cup star, flew up from North Carolina last week for a press
conference about the forthcoming North East Motor Sports Museum at
New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Ricky and I got to talking
about racing history up this way, about how some people got
involved, and how a single interchange can impact someone’s whole
approach to life.
Take, for example, Bob Bahre, the power
source behind Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine and builder of the Cup
track at Loudon itself. Ricky remembers clearly as yesterday
venturing out some 20 years ago, a frightened, unpolished kid, from
his Saturday night track in Unity to give the infamous Oxford 250 a
try.
The 250 had become an extraordinary event, an annual mob
scene of fans and competitors, the crowning jewel of Bahre’s
outreach to NASCAR from his unlikely facility in the Pine Tree
State.
Ricky was nervous walking up for the pay off after
the race. He had reason to be. The pay window has a distinctive
racing legacy of its own. It was often the place of high noon –
sometimes with fisticuffs – between shady and short-sighted
promoters and cash-starved racers, especially testy after a few
beers. Ricky recalls Bob Bahre, already famous in racing circles for
both his business acumen and his crustiness, sitting at the booth.
It was gruff, but certainly not the antagonistic conversation
Ricky anticipated.
Bahre barked: “How many people at Unity
last week?”
Ricky had no idea. Flustered, he replied, “About
10,000.”
“You don’t know that,” snapped Bahre. “How many were
really there?!”
“About half full.”
Bahre,
satisfied, said, “Now there’s an answer.” He carefully counted out
the purse due and congratulated the kid for his first 250 showing.
Craven never forgot the exchange. He’s a bright guy, and
Bahre had made him think. They became great friends, and Ricky
sought our Bob whenever he could, just to talk. “I was just a guy
from a farm area in Maine. When I won the 250 (in 1991),” says
Ricky, “I had never seen so much money. Bob asked me what I was
going to do with it. That’s when I realized I had to learn enough
about finance to have a plan.”
In short order, Ricky was off
to NASCAR for the start of a spectacular career. He became Rookie of
the Year and a popular winner in trucks, Nationwide, and Cup. His
wins included the 1997 Winston Open, but that same year a savage
crash left him with post-concussion syndrome that likely led to
ultimately hanging up his helmet.
Through it all, however,
Craven’s intelligence and purposefulness have been obvious. He is
doing well today with various business ventures and he serves as a
popular and articulate NASCAR analyst for ESPN and Yahoo. Summing it
all up, Ricky points out that “there are two people who know most
about my position in life and where I am going: my wife and Bob
Bahre.”
.jpg) |
Bob
Bahre. His orientation towards the racers paid off
big time.
(NHMS Photo) |
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Bob Bahre’s thoughtful and
generous attitude at the pay-off window was an uncommonly good
business technique. He went on to leverage his early NASCAR
experiences with the 250 – for a time the highest-paying short-track
race in the country – to ride the comet of Cup racing for nearly 20
years at Loudon. It was sell-out after sell-out at his Magic Mile,
and he was often seen roaming the pit area after the races offering
even the Cup teams a few extra bucks with his appreciation.
It’s paid off pretty well for him, too. In 2007, Bahre sold the
facility to Bruton Smith for a rumored $340 million.
© 2011 Lew Boyd, Coastal 181
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