DAVID RAGAN FINISHES 20TH AT RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

RICHMOND, Va. (May 6, 2007) – The Jim Stewart 400 became a two day event when rain showers soaked the Richmond International Raceway on Saturday. Teams returned on Sunday to run the 400-lap NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race.

Although 12 laps had been completed under caution on Saturday, NASCAR made the decision to start from scratch on Sunday afternoon with zero laps on the board at the start of the race.

Ragan, who qualified 29th, had a brand new race car, which was ranked second in the field at the conclusion of the final practice practice session on Friday.

The race got underway at 1:15pm EDT Sunday. An early caution allowed Ragan to radio updates about his No. 6 Ford Fusion to the AAA pit crew. Ragan indicated that his car wasn’t handling perfectly, but his team opted to keep him out on the track until the competition yellow – mandated by NASCAR to allow teams to safely make adjustments after the rain-delayed start – on lap 40.

On lap 42 Ragan came down pit road for four tires with an air pressure adjustment and fuel. He re-entered the field in 27th place gaining one position in the pits.

When the next caution came out on lap 55, Ragan relayed the message to his team that the car was handling better.

Ragan entered the pits again on lap 105 during the fourth caution of the day to get four more tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment. He re-entered the field in 25th position.

Ragan completed 97 more laps before re-entering the pits on lap 202 under the green flag. The AAA pit crew gave him four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment to help with the handling and then sent him back out in 35th position.

Ragan quickly moved back into the top-20 over the next 20 laps and was soon back on the lead lap.

Crew chief Jimmy Fennig made the decision to bring Ragan into the pits on lap 253 for a new set of tires and another adjustment. However, it wasn’t quite the smooth stop that the team had been hoping for.

As Ragan approached his pit stall, the No. 29 car driven by race leader Kevin Harvick was just exiting his pit stall – which was three stalls down from Ragan’s. No. 29 car made contact with the AAA Travel Ford sending Ragan spinning into his pit box. When he stopped the AAA Ford was in the correct pit stall where Ragan planned to stop, but it was facing in the opposite direction after the contact with Harvick.

The AAA pit crew quickly changed the right side tires of the No. 6 Ford and sent Ragan back out instructing him to pit again on the next lap so they could get the left side. The race resumed on lap 260 and Ragan made his next stop on lap 279, taking on four fresh tires and fuel.

On lap 316, the caution flag flew for the ninth time during the 400-lap event and Ragan once again headed into the pits. The AAA pit crew gave him four tires, fuel and his seventh air pressure adjustment of the day. Ragan was still reporting that the car was having trouble getting into the throttle as soon as he wanted to so the adjustment was made to help with those handling problems.

The final portion of the race was action-packed and full of cautions. Ragan made one final stop on lap 338 for four tires and fuel and then did his best to maintain his top-15 positioning.

Ragan was running 14th with 20 laps to go in the Jim Stewart 400 when the No. 01 car got loose and made contact with Ragan’s No. 6 AAA Travel Ford. Ragan quickly dropped back to 20th position, which is where he finished out the day.

“We had a top six, seven or eighth place car,” said Ragan. “On that long green flag run I felt like we were just about as good as it could get. Then we’re battling lapped cars the whole day and I just got really frustrated. It was tough to get around them and then we had a lot of quick cautions there at the end that certainly hurt us. We had a top 10 car and finished 20th with it, so I don’t know what that means, but we’ve got to do a little better than that.”

Ragan will compete next at Darlington Raceway in the Dodge Avenger 500 on May 12th at 7:00pm ET o n Fox and MRN. Ragan is currently 25th in the NEXTEL Cup Championship point standings and second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year contest with 106 points. Former Indy 500 winner and Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya leads the Raybestos Rookie Contenders with 109 points.