David Ragan – Race Recap
Sylvania 300-Loudon, NH / September 16, 2007
Started 38th/ Finished 19th

TOP-FINISHING ROOKIE, DAVID RAGAN, GETS TOP-20 FINISH AT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion

LOUDON, N.H. (September 16, 2007) – David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA team came to New Hampshire International Speedway with confidence after finishing third at Richmond the week before. However, with Saturday’s practice cancelled due to rain, the team would be forced to race after only having one practice session to prepare their cars.

Ragan qualified 38th for the 300 lap event and with only 17 laps on his tires he radioed to the team that his AAA Ford was tight in the center of the turns and had no front grip. He also felt like he was spinning the tires on exit from the corners.

Ragan was able to hold out until the first caution on lap 35. He came down pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments to the track bar and air pressure. He entered pit road in 37th position and returned to the track in 32nd place.

When the next caution came out on lap 67 Ragan relayed the message to his team that the changes made during the previous stop helped a little but he could use a good bit more. The AAA Ford Fusion hit pit road on lap 69 for a four tire stop along with a change to the wedge and tire air pressures. When the green flag laps resumed Ragan was running in 34th position.

Ragan slowly began to show improvements in his lap times as well as his overall position in the field, but his competitors had very fast race cars and were able to catch up to Ragan quickly on the one-mile track.

Ragan was running in 30th place on lap 129 when he was passed by the leader putting him one lap down. Only ten laps later he was forced to come down pit road under the green flag for tires and fuel. The team also put a round in the track bar to help with the handling of the AAA Ford.

Lap 149 brought a debris caution and crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, took this opportunity to bring Ragan into the pits once again. On lap 151 the AAA pit crew gave Ragan four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment before sending him back out in 28th position.

Ragan continued to struggle with the handling of his race car and when the caution came out again on lap 164, Fennig opted to keep Ragan out of the pits in an attempt to gain track position. Ragan also needed to maintain that track position so he would remain the first car one lap down and pick up the lucky dog pass when the next caution came around.

That is exactly what Ragan did. When the No. 8 car went spinning through turn two on lap 179 the yellow flag was displayed once again and Ragan was declared the lucky dog. He returned to the lead lap before making a pit stop on lap 182 for tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment. Ragan restarted in 24th place.

Ragan continued to run in the top-25 until the field started cycling through pit stops on lap 234. Ragan moved up to 5th place before coming down pit road under the green flag. He took four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and returned to the track in 29th position.

Soon Ragan was once again a lap down. At this point there were several cars one lap down and the two most important to Ragan were the two ahead of him. He began working his way through lapped traffic and finally reached the No. 96 driven by Tony Raines. Ragan carefully maneuvered his way past Raines and starting moving in on the next car in line. Eventually he was able to pass the cars ahead of him and cross the finish line in 19th position as the top-finishing Raybestos Rookie for the 12th time in the 2007 season.

“We just kind of started off bad,” said Ragan. “It was a combination of just getting in that rhythm and our AAA Ford was just a little bit off there at the beginning. It’s tough when you fall behind. Three hundred laps, man, this is like a late model race up here. You fall behind just a little bit and it seems like you can never catch back up. If we would have started the race how we ended we could have been a top-10 or top-15 car. We were just a little bit off at the beginning. It was a good day. We picked up some spots. When you run in the top-five, top-10 there for a week you feel like you can do that every week so we’re a little disappointed, but a top-20 is not a bad day.”

Ragan is currently 21st in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series point standings and second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race.
Ragan will compete next in the Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway on September 23rd at 1:00pm ET on ABC and MRN.