David Ragan – Race Recap
Dickies 500-Fort Worth, TX / November 4, 2007
Started 33rd / Finished 37th

DAVID RAGAN FINISHES 37TH AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA Insurance Ford Fusion

FORT WORTH, TX (November 4, 2007) – David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA team returned to Texas Motor Speedway for the second time this season. They brought a car that was used only once this year, just weeks ago at Kansas, where they finished 16th.

Ragan qualified 33rd for the Dickies 500, which began 2:30pm CDT on Sunday afternoon.

When the green flag dropped Ragan immediately began working his way toward the front, carefully picking off his competitors one at a time. When the first caution of the day was displayed on lap 13 Ragan let his team know that his AAA Ford was handling a little too “tight” when he exited from the corners.

Crew chief Jimmy Fennig brought Ragan down pit road on lap 16 for right side tires and an air pressure adjustment. Ragan reentered the field in 22nd position.

Fennig opted to keep Ragan out of the pits during the next two cautions in an attempt to gain track positions. When he finally came back down pit road on lap 37 for more right side tires and another air pressure adjustment he was running in 18th position.

Ragan was running as high as 13th when he was forced to pit on lap 87 under the green flag. He took four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment before returning to the field in 31st place.

On lap 118 the caution flag was displayed again and Ragan took this opportunity to fill his team in on the handling of his AAA Fusion.
“I’m still a little tight,” said Ragan. “The nose is starting to slide a little bit, but I have good forward ‘bite.’ The last change helped me stay ‘free’ a little longer so I could use a little bit more of that.”

A little bit more is exactly what Ragan got. He hit pit road on lap 119 in 20th position. The AAA pit crew went to work giving him four fresh tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment. Ragan reentered the field in 19th place.

The track went green again on lap 123 and on lap 131 the caution flag was back out. Ragan radioed to his team, under yellow, that his Ford Fusion wasn’t handling well in traffic, but otherwise felt pretty good.

Fennig brought Ragan into the pits on lap 133 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to help improve the handling of his race car. Ragan reentered the field in 22nd position.

The green flag fell again on lap 139 and Ragan immediately began to show improvement. He was running in 14th place when it came time to pit again under green. Ragan came down pit road on lap 191 for four tires, fuel and yet another air pressure adjustment. He returned to the track under green and in 23rd place.

The yellow flag displayed on lap 211. Ragan returned to pit road once again on lap 214. The AAA pit crew gave him four tires, fuel, another chassis adjustment and sent him back out in 15th place.

Ragan finally had his AAA Ford running in the top-15 when on lap 218, the team’s promising run came to an end.

As several cars crashed ahead of Ragan, the backstretch filled with smoke leaving the young rookie to navigate his way through the mess with little to no visibility. Unfortunately, Ragan did not make it through and his AAA Ford was brought, by tow truck, to the garage for repairs.

The AAA pit crew worked quickly to remove the front end of Ragan’s Fusion and repair damage under the hood of his race car and to the rear quarter panels. Ragan reentered the field on lap 259. He made one lap before reporting to Fennig that the car practically impossible to steer. Fennig told Ragan to take it back to the garage and park it. The No. 6 AAA team was done for the day.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson posted his third consecutive win in the NEXTEL Cup Series after beating Matt Kenseth to the finish line at the conclusion of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Ragan recounted the crash that ended his day at Texas.

“I don’t know what happened. I just saw everyone checking up,” said Ragan. “My spotter even said ‘the bottom lane is checking up.’ We were on the outside and before I know it, I don’t know if I got drilled in the back or just checked-up too quick and lost it. It’s just very unfortunate for the AAA team. Everyone worked really hard. I thought we had a pretty good car. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I felt like we had a top-10 or top-15 car when we wrecked. I really don’t know what happened. I just need to see a replay.”

Ragan is currently 23rd in the EXTEL Cup Series point standings and is second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race.

Ragan will compete next in the Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil at Phoenix International Raceway on November 11th. Coverage begins at 3PM Eastern on ABC and MRN.