DAVID RAGAN - RACE RECAP
Samsung 500 - Ft. Worth, TX - April 15, 2007
Started 19th - Finished 39th

RAGAN FINISHES 39TH AFTER EARLY RACE INCIDENT

FORT WORTH, TX (April 15, 2007) – Friday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway was spent waiting for the rain to stop and practice to begin, however it eventually ended with the garage clearing out due to tornados in the area. This meant that the field would be set according to current owner points putting David Ragan in 19th position for the start of the Samsung 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Ragan’s car ran in the top-15 during Saturday’s first practice session and he was looking forward to a good finish for the AAA team. That is until lap two when Ragan and the No. 18 car came racing, side by side, off of turn four.

“I was just coming out of Turn 4 and the AAA Ford Fusion felt really good through 1 and 2,” said Ragan. “I basically ran out of racetrack, ran out of room. The No.18, I thought I had him cleared, and he got a run on me up off of Turn 4. I was on the throttle and he was there and I’m sorry that I ruined his day and a lot of other guys. I should have just backed out of it.”

Ragan spun across the front stretch with minimal damage to his No. 6 AAA Insurance Ford Fusion then suddenly the No. 88 car shot across the grass and drove up on to the hood of Ragan’s machine.

There was severe damage to the front end of the AAA Ford. It was immediately taken to the garage where the No. 6 pit crew went to work rebuilding the nose of the race car.

On lap 97 Ragan reentered the field in 42nd position. After making about five or six laps he radioed to his team that the car was a little bit loose on exit, but over all not too bad. Ragan’s Ford slowly began to come around so when the yellow flag flew on lap 115 for debris he came into the pits for new tires and fuel only.
Ragan reentered the field with no gain in position; however by lap 169, when he came down to make his only green flag stop of the day he had gained two spots and was running in 40th position.

The remainder of Ragan’s day was spent concentrating on taking care of his already damaged race car. He crossed the finish line in 39th position after completing 239 laps of the 334 lap race.

“This was definitely not a good day for the AAA team,” said Ragan, “but all we can do now is move forward and I will learn from my mistakes. I have a strong race team behind me and I know I didn’t make their jobs any easier today. They are a great group of guys and knowing that I have an experienced team working so hard for me is very encouraging to a young rookie like myself.”

Ragan is currently 24th in the Nextel Cup Championship point standings and 2nd in the race for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

Ragan will compete next in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on April 21st at Phoenix International Raceway. Coverage begins at 8PM Eastern time on Fox and MRN.