Ricky Craven Assuming Ownership of Maine's Speedway 95

NASCAR Cup Series veteran and proud Maine native Ricky Craven will be the new owner of Hermon, Maine's Speedway 95, the track announced in a release on Sunday.

Delano Merritt has been involved with the speedway since 1968, and held the position of owner for the 1/3-mile facility for the past 15 years. Now, the track looks forward to a new era with Craven taking over ownership of the facility.

Merritt will remain involved with the facility, overseeing operations alongside Craven for the remainder of the 2025 season and providing guidance into 2026.

“Today is a monumental day for me and my family," said Craven in a statement regarding the sale. "I have been friends with Del for decades and admired the dedication he has given for his track, team, and all associated with Speedway 95. I am dedicating the rest of my life to a track that has been part of my DNA for many years.

"Both my Mom and Dad won races at Speedway 95 in the 70’s. I have the honor of receiving the checkered flag and a black flag from Del during my racing at Speedway 95. In a strange way, I benefitted from both. Now Del and I can say we are forever connected through Speedway 95."

Craven's racing career began at tracks in Maine such as Speedway 95, Unity Raceway, and Wiscasset Speedway. He'd go on to win the 1991 Busch North Series championship, the 1991 Oxford 250, and races in all three of NASCAR's National Series.

In 2003, Craven won the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway in one of the closest and most memorable finishes in series history, battling literally door-to-door with Kurt Busch to the checkered flag.

After his driving career, Craven worked for more than a decade as a NASCAR analyst for the likes of ESPN, Fox, and Yahoo! Sports. Now, his focus turns to the next chapter of his racing journey.

"We will, in the near future, share with all the people with equity in this track our intentions to do some aggressive vision of how this facility will continue to evolve," said Craven's statement. "It includes several phases that I can not wait to get started.

"I want to thank Del, his family, Kim, Shawn, and the entire team at Speedway 95, and, of course, all of the people that have competed or been associated with the track since 1966. The details of our plans will be announced at a later date. Del and I will work closely together to finish out the 2025 Speedway 95 race season, which will run through October 12th.”

For more information about Speedway 95, visit speedway95racing.com or Speedway 95 on Facebook.

-Photo credit: Logan Riely/Getty Images