David Ragan – Race Recap
Toyota/ Save Mart 350-Sonoma, Ca. / June 24th, 2007
Started 37th / Finished 29th

RAGAN FINISHES 29TH IN CAR OF TOMORROW AT INFINEON RACEWAY

SONOMA, Ca. (June 24, 2007) – Infineon Raceway hosted the first Car of Tomorrow road race in NASCAR history this weekend in Sonoma, California. The 1.99 mile course was unfamiliar to many of the weekend’s competitors including young rookie David Ragan, who has only visited the track a couple of times to attend a driving school.

Ragan ran 47th and 21st in first and second practice and qualified 37th for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Friday afternoon. He was one of few drivers who also competed in the Busch Series race in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday night and therefore did not take part in Saturday’s happy hour session.

The race got underway at approximately 2:20pm PST on Sunday afternoon. The first caution of the day came on the lap one when the No. 45, No. 17 and No. 91 wrecked in turn 11. Ragan’s crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, took this opportunity to come into the pits for four tires and to top off with fuel in hopes of gaining an advantage over his competitors.

When the green flag dropped again on lap four Ragan was running in 40th place and quickly radioed to his team that his AAA Ford was very loose through the S’s and the fast parts of the track. Ragan came down pit road under the yellow flag for the second time on lap 14. In addition to four tires and fuel Fennig and the AAA pit crew added a pound of air to each of the rear tires to help improve the handling of Ragan’s Ford Fusion.

Ragan exited pit road and was preparing for the track to go green again when Fennig came over the radio telling him that he would need to drop back to the tail end of the longest line. During the pit stop one of the rear tires rolled out of the pit stall and half way across pit road. The team was penalized for their mistake and Ragan took the green flag for the third time in 41st place.

Ragan was running 39th when the caution flag flew on lap 26 for debris in turn four. He relayed the message to his team that the previous adjustment to his AAA Insurance Ford was a plus and that he still needed the front end to turn a little better. The AAA team came in for a fuel only stop in an attempt to gain track position. Ragan reentered the field in 33rd place.

The green flag flew again on lap 29. Two more cautions came and Fennig made the decision both times to keep Ragan out on the track in an attempt to gain more positions. Ragan was in 21st position on lap 56 when his race car got loose and he spun exiting turn seven. He brought his AAA Ford into the pits for four tires and fuel on lap 57 and returned to the track in 39th position. There was no damage to his race car.

The seventh caution of the day came on lap 66. Fennig brought Ragan into the pits for four tires and fuel. He also put a half a pound of air in the rear tires to help improve his loose handling race car. Ragan was in the 34th position when the track went green again on lap 69.

Ragan worked his way up to 18th position when the question of whether or not he could make it to the end on fuel began to be addressed. Finally, it was decided that Ragan would have to pit before the conclusion of the 110 lap race. He was in 19th position on lap 104 when Fennig came over the radio and told him to pit for fuel only the next time by.

Ragan dropped back to 34th after the stop and quickly went right back to work when he returned to the track, fighting his way forward. In the final five laps of the race Ragan was able to pick up five positions, crossing the finish line in 29th place.

“It was definitely a learning experience out there today,” said Ragan. “We had a pretty decent race car. I struggled with it being too loose there for a while at the beginning and then once we got it a little better I was able to start picking them off one at a time and eventually worked our way into the top-10 or 15 for a while. Fuel was the issue and if we had not had to stop we would have probably ended up with around a top-15 finish, but then again if we didn’t stop we would probably have ended up much worst than 29th. It is what it is and we’ll take it. I knew that this was going to be a challenging weekend and I feel like I learned a lot and I can use that when we head to Watkins Glen here in a month or so and when we come back out here next year.”

Ragan is currently 25th in the Nextel Cup Championship point standings and second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race. He trails Juan Pablo Montoya by 15 points.

Ragan will compete next in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway on July 1st. Coverage begins at 1:00pm EST on TNT and MRN.