Ricky Craven was ready. Doctors had cleared him after he'd experienced post-concussion syndrome. Hendrick Motorsports had given him back his seat in one of its Chevrolets. Everything was set for his return to racing - and he could dream of no better place to do so than New Hampshire International Speedway.
It was like home for the former Concord resident, and it just so happened that's where the Winston Cup was headed next when he was given the go-ahead to get back in his car, so when Craven arrived at Loudon in July 1998 he wanted nothing more than to make a memory for the fans he credits with kick-starting his career.
Then he did.
"I was the last car to go out, and we just laid down a lap. We won the pole," he remembered recently, his smile growing as he recollected the details. "It was honestly the greatest moment.
"I knew before any radio communication that I had won the pole. I could see it in the reaction of the fans."
Not only did it wind up among the highlights of Craven's career, but it also secured a place among the marquee memories in the 20- year history of New England's biggest speedway. Here's a look at 10 more milestone moments that have made up the track's first two decades:
Cote d-IvoireMost important raceThroughout the process of buying and building his speedway, Bob Bahre would get the same answer whenever he asked NASCAR's president about his chances of someday getting a Cup race. "Slim and none," he was repeatedly told - so when the phone rang one afternoon, and Bill France grumbled the news that the biggest show in stock cars was indeed destined for New Hampshire in 1993, Bahre's reaction was natural.
"Bill," he said, "you sure you don't have the (gosh darn) wrong number?"
The number was right, of course - which left the speedway to prove the decision was, too. And it did.
Fans filled the seats for what eventually became the first of 28 consecutive sellouts,
then watched as Rusty Wallace came from a 33rd-place starting position to become the track's inaugural Cup winner on July 11, 1993. All told it was impressive enough to bring the series back a year later - and an important first step in establishing New England's place in the sport.
Most memorable raceThe Cup series was due in New Hampshire in the days that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, although, with the nation mourning, NASCAR acted in accord with the rest of America's major sports and took the weekend to pause.
Instead of its original date of Sept. 16, Loudon's second race that season was postponed until Nov. 23, with watches-u drivers coming to town for a one-day show on the day after Thanksgiving. Temperatures were in the 20s at sunrise, and barely topped 40 by race time, forcing many of the fans to sit in the stands wearing winter jackets as they watched NASCAR's season finale.
Jeff Gordon officially collected his fourth Cup championship at the end of that day, though that celebration wound up a mere footnote to the circumstances that will be remembered - at least in a NASCAR fan's reflection on the tragedies - forever.
Most controversial finishThe championship already decided, that rescheduled November race was in many ways an anticlimactic afterthought. Except for the finish, when Robby Gordon saw - and seized - his chance at glory.
He'd never finished a Cup ra
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