Subway 500 - Martinsville, VA / October 21, 2007
Started 40th / Finished 26th

DAVID RAGAN FINISHES 26TH AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY
David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion

MARTINSVILLE, VA (October 21, 2007) – A poor qualifying run set David Ragan’s No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion as the 40th car to roll of pit road for Sunday’s Subway 500 at the .526-mile Martinsville Speedway. Ragan’s plan was to move up in the field before things got messy in the back of the pack, so that is exactly what he did.

Ragan began his charge forward, but was running 33rd on lap 44 when he caught a glimpse of the leader in his rearview mirror. The caution flag was displayed moments later when the No. 7 car made contact with the wall in turn four.

Ragan told his team that his AAA Ford was “free” off of the corners and a little bit “tight” through the center. When Ragan came down pit road on lap 46 the team gave him fresh tires, fuel and took a half pound of air out of his right rear tire to help with the handling of his race car.

Ragan reentered the field in 32nd place and the race resumed on lap 50.

During the next pit stop on lap 69 Ragan told his team that the adjustment made during the previous stop helped but they may have, in fact, over-adjusted. During their next tire change, the team put a quarter-pound of air back in the right rear tire and sent Ragan back out in 30th position.

When the next caution flag was displayed on lap 80, crew chief Jimmy Fennig advised Ragan to stay out in an attempt to gain track position. Ragan picked up seven spots during the seven lap caution and restarted in 23rd place.

Just as Ragan started seeing his hard work and patience pay off trouble came along. On lap 91 Ragan fell victim to an incident on the front stretch when a car ahead of him spun around causing everyone behind him to get on the brakes. The AAA Ford Fusion sustained minimal damage and after a quick stop for new tires and a tug at the fender Ragan returned to the track in 30th position.

When the green flag dropped again Ragan got to work once again carefully passing his competitors one at a time. He gained three positions before the caution flag flew again on lap 112. Ragan again stayed out on the track, which allowed him to pick up several positions. Ragan restarted in 8th position on lap 124.
Fennig continued to keep Ragan out of the pits over the following few cautions which helped his rookie driver run in the top-10 and top-15 for a large portion of the race.

When the caution flag flew again on lap 214 Ragan radioed to his AAA pit crew that he was struggling with the handling of his AAA Ford Fusion again. On lap 216 Ragan came into the pits where his crew gave his fresh tires and an air pressure adjustment. Ragan returned to the track in 18th position.

The AAA Ford Fusion began to show improvement once again and when the caution came out on lap 25 Fennig once again opted to keep Ragan out on the track to gain position.

Ragan restarted in ninth place on lap 255 and raced in the top-five for a portion of that green flag run. Ragan was running ninth on lap 295 when the No. 12 car tapped his bumper and sent him spinning. Ragan did not make contact with the wall and brought the AAA Ford into the pits following the incident. A half pound of air was taken out of the left rear tire and Ragan was sent back out in 22nd position.

Ragan ran in the top 20 for the next portion of the race and eventually made his way back into the top 15 with 150 laps remaining. He was still having a hard time with the handling of his race car. He informed his team that he was having trouble really racing hard without losing forward grip.

This time when Fennig brought Ragan into the pits on lap 395 he made a chassis adjustment to help the handling of the AAA Ford.
Throughout the next portion of green flag laps Ragan ran in the top 20, but moved into the top-15 again around lap 450 when Fennig opted to keep Ragan out on the track during yellow flag pit stops.

Ragan was running 17th when he suffered damage to his left front fender during an incident on the front stretch. Ragan chose to stay out on the track and complete the race in his damaged Ford Fusion.

The green flag dropped for the final time of the race on lap 504 and with a severe tire rub Ragan struggled to even make it around for one full lap. The rub led to a blown tire, which caused him to spin out, bringing out the checkered flag and declaring Jimmie Johnson the winner of the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Ragan was named the 26th place finisher.

“It was quite an up and down day for the AAA team,” said Ragan. “We had a good enough car to run up near the front, but for some reason we just couldn’t stay up there. We had a little bit of bad luck, but although we didn’t bring home the finish that we were hoping for we finished the race and finished it on the lead lap. That alone is a major improvement from the past two weeks so to look on the bright side we ran hard today and the guys did a great job as always. Now I’m just looking forward to Atlanta next weekend.”

Ragan is currently 22nd in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings. He is also second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race to Juan Pablo Montoya.

Ragan will compete next in the Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 28th. Coverage begins at 1:00pm ET on ABC and PRN.