Dodge Avenger 500 - Darlington, SC / May 13, 2007
Started 24th / Finished 28th

RAGAN GETS HIS FIRST TASTE OF “THE TRACK TOO TOUGH TO TAME”

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 13, 2007) – For the second week in a row, the drivers of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series raced on Sunday after their Saturday night race was postponed due to rain.

David Ragan, driver of the No.6 AAA Ford Fusion, qualified 24th for the 367-lap race at historic Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Ragan posted a disappointing 28th-place finish but remained in close contention for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award.

Ragan is ranked second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race with 116 points. Former Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya leads the contest with 120 points.

After spending Sunday morning at the Mother’s Day pre-race ceremonies, Ragan headed for his race car to prepare for the 1:00pm EDT command to start engines.

Unfortunately when the green flag dropped, just past the hour, so did Ragan. He fell back to 27th position before radioing to his team that his Ford Fusion was not handling well. When the caution flag flew on lap 40, Ragan came down pit road for four tires, fuel and an adjustment to try to help his Fusion turn better.

He re-entered the field in 27th place and the race resumed on lap 44. Ragan began to regain momentum after getting some green flag laps on his tires.

He pitted for the second time under the green flag on lap 95. He once again took four tires and fuel after entering the pits in 28th position. He re-entered the field in 36th place, but quickly reclaimed a position in the top-30, running 27th by lap 115. It was then that the track went yellow for the second time of the race after the No. 41 car blew a tire.

Ragan once again came into the pits on lap 118 for four tires, fuel and another \adjustment. Ragan headed back out on to the track in 27th position.

The field went green again on lap 120 and Ragan was now the first car one lap down. He fought to stay in position – and thus be the beneficiary of NASCAR’s rule that allows that driver to return to the lead lap at the next caution period – but when the caution flag flew again on lap 122 due to a wreck on the backstretch, Ragan was battling for the position with the No. 43 car driven by Bobby Labonte.

NASCAR officials ruled that the No. 43 was ahead of Ragan when the caution flag was displayed leaving Ragan one lap down. Crew chief Jimmy Fennig instructed Ragan to stay out during the caution to regain and his position as the first car one lap down.

The track went green again on lap 127 and stayed green for the next 55 laps. On lap 178 Ragan radioed to his team that he may have a tire going down. He headed into the pits where he got four tires and another adjustment under the green flag. He headed back out in 29th position.

As it turned out Ragan’s tire was not flat and when the caution flag came out on lap 182 due to debris on the track Ragan was forced to pit the second time by since he was still one lap down. He again re-entered the field in 29th position.

Ragan found trouble again on lap 237 when the No. 21 car got into the back of his AAA Ford Fusion sending him spinning off of turn four. He headed into the pits with damage to his left front fender and a flat right rear tire.

Ragan re-entered the field in 32nd position after getting four fresh tires, fuel and an adjustment to help with the handling of his race car.

However, Ragan continued to struggle with the same handling problems throughout the remainder of the race; his AAA Ford was tight on new tires and eventually got too loose once the tires got 20-30 laps on them.

On lap 315, Ragan’s left front tire began to rub against the fender and within a couple laps his tire was going down. He hit pit road on lap 317 under the green flag for four tires, fuel and an adjustment and headed back out in 33rd position.

By lap 338 Ragan was four laps down and in 32nd position. He continued to struggle with an ill-handling race car for the remainder of the race. Ragan crossed the finish line in 28th position.

“Our car was tight at the beginning of the run and loose at the end of the run,” said Ragan. “I just couldn’t find a happy medium but we finished. I wish we would have been up there in the top-20 where we should have been. I just wish we were coming back here in a few weeks. I feel like I got it figured out now. I want to say thank you to AAA and its 50 million members for all of your support. We’re going to look ahead to Charlotte and concentrate on getting a good finish at home.”

Ragan will compete at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 19th at 7:00pm EDT for a starting spot in the NEXTEL All Star Challenge later that evening. The SPEED Channel and MRN Radio will cover the event. David will also compete in the Coca Cola 600 the following weekend at the 1.5 mile race track.

David Ragan is currently 26th in the NEXTEL Cup Championship point standings.