David Ragan – Race Recap
USG Sheetrock 400 - Joliet, IL/ July 15th, 2007
Started 32nd / Finished 25th

DAVID RAGAN GETS HIS BEST MILE AND A HALF FINISH AT CHICAGOLAND

JOLIET, IL (July 15, 2007) –David Ragan qualified 32nd on Friday afternoon and rolled off the grid for the start of the USG Sheetrock 400 at approximately 3:20pm CDT on Sunday afternoon. Prior to this weekend’s 267 lap event Ragan’s best finish at a mile and a half track was 33rd at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ragan struggled throughout the day with an ill handling race car, but was able to bring it home in one piece and in the top-25.

Within the first ten laps of the race Ragan radioed to his team that his AAA Insurance Ford Fusion was a little bit free, but it was coming to him. Twenty laps later Ragan reported his race car as being too tighten up through the center and off of the corners, especially in turn two.

With very few caution laps early on in the event Ragan was forced to deal with the condition of his Fusion until a green flag stop was necessary. In fact, Ragan struggled through the first 46 laps of the race before he headed down pit road under the green flag for tires, fuel, one round in the track bar and an air pressure adjustment. Ragan came into the pits in 38th position and headed back out in 41st position and one lap down.

The caution flag finally flew for the first time on lap 57. Ragan told his team that the car still felt a little free, but it was better than their first run.

Ragan headed down pit road on lap 61 for four tires, fuel and a pound of air in the left rear tire to help improve the handling of his AAA Fusion. Ragan reentered the field in 31st position.

The track went green again on lap 63 and it stayed green until lap 154 when teammate Jamie McMurray made contact with the outside wall. By this time Ragan was two laps down and reported that his car was going from free to tight after about ten laps and then it got really tight for the last ten laps of the run.

Crew Chief, Jimmy Fennig, brought Ragan back into the pits on lap 156 for tires and fuel along with an air pressure and wedge adjustment. When the track went green again on lap 159 Ragan was running in the 30th position.

For the next 20 laps Ragan continued to complain that his Ford Fusion was too free and had no front grip when he was on the throttle.

On lap 204 Ragan came in for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted in 30th place and on lap 210 he came over the radio to tell his crew that he may have a tire going down. Ragan stayed on the track to feel it out. It turned out he did not have a flat tire and he remained on the race track until the caution flag flew on lap 223 when the No. 48 car crashed into the outside wall spreading debris through turn four.

Ragan and the AAA pit crew took this opportunity to come in for tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Ragan reentered the field in 29th position.

By lap 245 Ragan had picked up three positions and radioed to his team that the car was 100% better.

The team made one final pit stop on lap 247. They gave Ragan two right side tires and topped off his fuel tank before sending him back out in 25th position as the first car two laps down. Ragan maintained this position until the conclusion of the race.

“We just weren’t very good at the beginning,” said Ragan. “We kind of fought back to being okay there at the end. We’ve got to get better at the beginning of these races and qualifying. It seems like we’re a step behind at the beginning and it really cost us getting down that lap early. The AAA pit crew did a great job on pit road. We had great pit stops all day. It’s just a long day. I thought we’d be a little better than this. We’ve just got to continue to work. We’re going to go back to some more mile-and-a-halves. We’ve just got to get better but it was a decent day. We salvaged a decent finish still have one race car in one piece, something we can work on to make better.”

Ragan is currently 22nd in the NEXTEL Cup Series Championship point standings and is second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Race.

Ragan will compete next at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 29th. Coverage begins at 1:00 PM Eastern on ESPN and IMS.